Would you do this?

Would you start repainting the interior of your house a mere 5 days before Christmas - knowing you wouldn't have a prayer of finishing before?

That's what I thought.

Tannenbaum update

It still looks like that, but now I've grown to embrace and even love the tree's flaws. Much like Charlie Brown does with his tree. The tree is a good metaphor for my life. I thought and expected one thing, but another happened. And it's okay that way.

This year, it's just not about the tree for me. It's about so much more...

The BEST Christmas Album

I don't have one. But I want one.

What's your FAVORITE - FAVORITE?

I like strong voices and traditional renditions. I like the actual carols and I'm okay with modern arrangements, but I don't like pop arrangements. I want something that feels like church and warms my house and makes me feel all Christmasy.

I DON'T like Frank Sinatra singing any Christmas song so if that's your favorite, then you don't need to let me know. I have Nat King Cole, but that's not the best. I want the best.

What's your favorite? Let me know so I can go out and buy it!

Only 8 days from tomorrow!

O Tannenbaum

"O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum
"Wha-ha-ha the he-heck???"

My in-laws call me "Sweet Deal" because EVERYTHING I own has some sweet deal story behind it. And if you know me then you know that if you comment on anything I'm wearing or anything in my house the next thing you hear will be "Oh - I got at ____ for 65% off" or something similar. I get if from my mom - hands down the best-NEVER-pay-full-price shopper on the planet. And there's something really great about getting a good deal on something you really want/need. KWIM?

Okay - so back to the tree. Like everything else I own I got a GOOD DEAL! We moved to TX in late December 2002. And by late I mean 28th of December so we didn't have a tree that year. Just after Christmas we were shopping at Sears and my mom (of course) spied a 9ft pre-lit, multi-colored light tree - last year's model - for $99. I KNOW! We bought it. BUT, we don't care for multi-colored lights, so we bought eleventy-hundred boxes of tiny white lights and hand replaced every.single.one. Hand.replaced.every.single.light.on.the.9ft.tree. Thinking that it would be a lifetime tree. What we didn't anticipate is that makers of the tiny white lights would revamp the bulb design and the new tiny white lights don't fit our tree.

Bummer.

So, we now have this 9ft beauty in our living room window...with the front blinds closed.

Merry Christmas...

Work is tiring and high heels suck

Okay - work is exhausting. Kids are exhausting too, but I never had to care for them in 4 inch heels.

I'm sure I'll have more to say after I make it through the first week.

TTFN.

Let's make it official

I start a new job on Monday...

Wish me luck!

Repeat after me

That's what you do when you are 19 months old. Much to the delight and dismay of your parents.

For example, it's delightful when I say "box" and you say "box". It's also delightful when I say "coffee" and you say "gahfee".

It's dismaying, though, when I say "hell" and you say "hell". Or when I say "crap" and you say "grap".

Thankfully you balanced that out last night by repeating me in your best voice when I said "Whatchu talk'n bout Willis???"

You did good Bitty. You must have known how much I needed a laugh like that one...!

I don't even have a catchy title in me...

I'm just out of drama.

Actually the current drama is just so personal it's hard to find something else to think about.

I thought lemonade was only for the summer months...

Perhaps I'll have something in the next week or so :-) Don't give up.

Sorry Mickey D's. It's the meat.

TK admitted today that what really "grosses him out" about McDonald's cheeseburgers is the meat...

Praise the LORD. We don't have to go back anymore!

Thankful?

You bet. And then some.

Patrick Henry Reardon said "Suppose for a moment that God began taking from us the many things for which we have failed to give thanks. Which of our limbs and faculties would be left? Would I still have my hands and my mind? And what about loved ones? If God were to take from me all those persons and things for which I have not given thanks, who or what would be left of me?"

What indeed?

I have never thought about it quite that way...I don't believe I have ever given thanks that I have legs and am simply able to walk. Or that I have arms and am simply able to hug my children. Or that I have a beating heart and am simply able to live...and love.

Despite the challenges of the last year - and believe me there are many - I'm abundantly blessed and more thankful than I have words to express.

A few...

I'm thankful to have a husband to weather the challenges with. Both self-inflicted and accidental. :-) It's okay that not everyone gets us and it's okay that sometimes we don't even get us. But we "chose" and I will forever be thankful for that. I'm thankful to have my kids. That seems like a no-brainer but with the recent stuff in Nebraska it makes me realize that some people aren't. My two wild boys make my heart feel warm and whole. Sometimes when I look at them I can't believe I get to raise them. I'm thankful for my amazing parents. They will never know how lucky I feel to have them and to have a relationship with them. My children are blessed to have them for grandparents! I'm thankful for my in-laws. Despite the natural challenges with blending families, I'm grateful to have married into good people that have good hearts. I'm thankful for my extended family - for my grandmothers who keep on trucking, my amazing aunts, uncles and cousins. I'm thankful to be of sound mind and body. I'm thankful to have a roof over my head and food on the table.

...And mostly, I'm thankful to have a seat on God's train. I'm thankful to just be a passenger.

Duuuuuuuude

This is so gross I shouldn't even post it, but then I wouldn't be being true to the purpose of this blog, right?

I have gotten notorious for not bringing my diaper bag into stores during routine errands. I take it to the mall and such, but grocery, Target, Walgreens, no. Too much hassle. Lately, though, I have been questioning this strategy. The little one poops like 7 times per day - not even joking - and it's not scheduled. It's totally random. I'm ALWAYS caught without diapers and thus have to buy diapers and wipes in EVERY store so I can run to the bathroom and change him in order to finish shopping. WHAT-EVER. Will I learn?

Maybe one day, yes, but not yesterday.

We were taking a spin through Toys R Us and the boys were playing on the ride ons and I smelled it.

So, like I always do, I walked over behind Bitty and pulled his pants away just a bit to see if I was right...

I was...and it was steaming.

Bleh.

P.S. Todd is still so confused as to why I come home with new diapers every single day and my mom and grandmother think I'm an idiot... ;-)

Mini-me

And I'm not saying that in a good way...

I put the tree up this weekend. It's fake and it's freakin' huge so I take my time.

Anyhoo, I put the tree up and put the decoration totes next to it thinking I would do the decorating over the course of this week.

Today, Todd was sick and the little one was under the weather, too so they were both sleeping. TK and I were downstairs and he noticed the decorations.

"Mommy, let's decorate the tree. I'm going to help you. I'll put every hook on every decoration."

"Wow, TK - that's so nice. Thanks."

{5 minutes later}

"Mommy, turn off that TV and come over here and help me. I'm not doing this all by myself!!!"

Nice...

Big day tomorrow

Todd and I both have interviews tomorrow morning. Pray, cross your fingers, "send good vibes" or whatever you do! Anything appreciated :-)

**The last time I worked it was hot outside so I actually had to go shopping for something appropriate to wear...AACK.

W-T-H?!

FYI - I'm taking the word FOC_ off of my blog. Seriously - there are people landing on this blog looking for stuff that sho' nuff ain't here...

And for the record, the little one has improved his pronunciation to SHOCKS.

I totally LOVE TK

He is so, so funny. He makes me laugh about 100x/day. Saturday was no exception. We had to visit the mall to get his glasses adjusted. The parking lot conversation between he and Todd went like this

"Tell mommy what song we heard in the car today."

"We heard KISS"

"No, remember...letters"

"Oh yeah, we heard ACDC. I love their song 'Dirty Deeds and the Dunder Jeep".

I still have not stopped laughing.

Best after church lunch ever...

Is an "all the way" hotdog in my own kitchen. Perhaps what made it especially good today is that we found Gus and he's laying in the floor beside the table. It's a good day today.

A little drama goes a long way

Yesterday it was pretty chilly when TK and I left for the movie theater. By afternoon it had warmed up considerably...enough to warrant changing into shorts.

"Mommy, can I change?"

"What?"

"Can I change from these cozy pants? I'm like, SWELTERING!!!!!"

Why couldn't he have just said "hot"?

Errrrrrtttttttttt!

We finally put the brakes on a super busy weekend. I'm exhausted from all my volunteering - something that troubles me greatly should I need to re-enter the workforce any time soon. I don't know how I will survive working an 8 hour day. It's like my body forgot...

So, Friday was TK's school "Tigerthon". The kids train for months running and then get pledges and see how many laps they can run. I volunteered to mark shirts for the kindergarten portion and somehow ended up working the entire day!

Saturday we got up early and had breakfast out. I then went with my mom and grandmother to 'Neath the Wreath - lots of walking in bad shoes. As soon as I got home I changed and went back to TK's school for their carnival where once again I ended up in volunteer mode in their class booth. Today, TK and I went to see Madagascar and he had a playdate (at our house) from 3:30 -7:30.

And somehow after all of that, nobody but me is tired...WTH?

I'm conflicted...

But I know the answer.

Got a call from a recruiter today to do a job that I was *MADE* for. It's a long term contract that will become permanent. For a GREAT company. For even GREATER money. Greater money than I've made in my almost 15 years of working. I don't have the job - as a matter of fact, we haven't even set an interview time with the HR manager since I'm out of pocket all day tomorrow. But it's exciting nonetheless. The potential is amazing and there's a BIG part of me that's ready to get back in the game for a while.

And then, the little one came up to me with his curly hair, too tight Cozumel t-shirt, rolled up jeans, holding a bag of Wheat Thins and said "cahgee". :-(

Because I want you to live...

That's what I say to the little one in response to his tantrums lately. What are the tantrums from you ask?

Oh, not much really. Just the little one climbing on the cubes in front of the fireplace and eating the fake rocks and insulation that are necessary for a gas fireplace.

Move the cubes? Oh, yes, I hadn't thought of that. Actually, I did. And TC is smart enough to have figured out how to get them off of the couch and put them back in front of the fireplace. Cut the legs off you say? Yes, perhaps that's next. Or just throwing the cubes in the trash can. Along with candles, flower arrangements, picture frames and pretty much everything else decorative in our house.

But, for now I'll keep explaining to him that he can't eat fake rocks and insulation "because I want him to live..."

It's not that I'm too busy to blog...

It's just that I'm spending all of my free time trying to make lemonade from this bucket of lemons I just got handed.

Be back in the saddle soon.

Aim high

TK asked me yesterday if Kiss could play at his 6th birthday party.

I had to sadly tell him that they are no longer doing the 6th birthday party circuit.

Oh and that even if they said yes, we couldn't afford that. Forgot that small detail.

7 years ago today...

Chinese fire drill when we got stuck on the drawbridge. Lucky for us our photographer was it the car behind us.


Unexpected intro...

He's in the 4th grade!!!!

TK has a friend at school named Elizabeth. She's the cutest thing ever. She picks apart her ponytail holders and gives TK the beads. She also has a brother in 4th grade...yeah, uh oh.

So, TK comes home for the third time and says "Elizabeth's brother told me he was going to punch me in the stomach and the nuts if I don't leave Elizabeth alone." I was like, "REALLY? He said that to you?" and TK said "Yes and he balled up his fists at me. I was so scared my teeth were chattering." (I almost laughed at that one).

So after a lengthy discussion with the teacher and Tiki, Todd asks him if it's all square in his head - if he can go to school Monday and not have chattering teeth.

TK says "I guess, but HE'S IN THE 4TH GRADE!"

Todd said "Yeah, but there are people bigger than him"

TK was skeptical to say the least when he said "Yeah, but who?

Sad that I'm so old I can't remember when a 4th grader seemed scary...

5 going on retiree

"So, TK, is this the park where you saw your buddy on Friday? What was his name? Cooper?"

"Yeah, Cooper. He was from my old school, HLC"

"That's cool"

"Yeah, daddy. And it felt really good to reconnect with an old friend"

Bu-wha?

Snazzy boots for a snazzy kid

TK's annual boot pick. So cute with his little jeans and his big glasses...

Revenge of the grandparent

Today in line at Cavender's I heard my dad trying to get Bitty to say "socks". Which, you know, from previous posts is pronounced **** (removed by TAW). I was all "Daaaaddddd".

Luckily the little one did not cooperate, but I knew from my dad's laugh that he wanted to try again. :-)

How can this be?

There is nothing blogworthy in my life right now. Is that possible?

Actually there's quite a bit, but I'm holding out for the National Enquirer to pick up the story...

No. Not really.

You want a what?

TK asked me this morning after seeing a dead mouse if he could have one. I said no, so he countered with a "rasupial rat" or a "thornkill".

Just to be on the safe side, I said "No".

And for the record, TK, it's mar-supial rat. But I love you for trying.

What's it like?

Living in Stepford. That's probably what you are asking yourself when you read my blog.

Well, here's an example.

Brrrriiinnnngggg.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Tracy. Next door neighbor just called me. Is there a ticket on my car?"

"What? I don't know. I left the house several times today and didn't notice. Let me go check."

"You won't believe it. Yes, there was a non-moving violation on your windshield. A freakin' ticket on your car parked in FRONT OF OUR HOUSE."

"What for?"

"Parking against the flow of traffic."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

P.S. It was left at 2:36 pm. I was home. How about instead of stopping to unethically collect your $60, knock on my door and ask me to turn the car around. No?

"Y'all be careful!!!!"

I bet I say this 10-20 times per day when Frick and Frack are home at the same time.

And every time I say "Y'all be careful!!!!", the next sound I hear is "WAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!".

All within 30 minutes

• The little one peed enough to leak through his diaper and form a small puddle in his car seat. Did not notice until AFTER I took him out of that car seat, put him in the stroller and made his sit through TK's 30 minute hair trim. I'm lucky he sticks around.
  
• I SAT on - yes SAT ON a large Coke from Sonic in my seat. I still really can't talk about it without crying since I have sort of given up Coke and this was a treat to myself to cure my migraine. It was sad.
  
• TK spilled his strawberry slush from Sonic into his seat. Actually, check that - he punched a hole in the bottom of the cup like he does EVERY SINGLE TIME HE HAS SONIC. ??????????????

And we all lived happily ever after with soaking wet butts on the drive home. It's like a dream that it happened to all 3 of us within a 30 minute time frame.

Dear "Lady"?:

You know I'm talking to you. The big ole', tatted up, smoking pregnant mom at the fair...

It's not the "big ole', tatted up" part that I noticed - it was more the smoking and pregnant thing that got my attention.

I saw you and your family on the Kidway. That was me staring at you with the look of incredulation on my face. Remember me?

I just want to say that you totally deserve to have kids. Keep up the good work.

Love ya!

Sheesh and ****

Vocabulary lesson courtesy of the little one.

"What are these Bitty? Are these shoes?"

"Sheesh"

"That's right, shoes. And if those are shoes, what are these?"

"****" (removed by TAW)

"Yes, socks. That's right. You can only say socks at home, okay?"

"**********************" (removed by TAW)

"Yep, I got it Bitty. Socks."

Update

Even my garage stinks. It's permeated my freakin' garage.

Ode de Octogenerian

Bath and Body Works.

I NEVER go there.

If I have their Antibacterial Soap it's because my mom bought them for me.

TK needed a birthday gift for his teacher and we finally found the time Sunday evening at 5:30. My mom suggested lotions, etc from Ulta. Should have listened to her. Instead I parked at the first store in the strip mall, Bath and Body Works.

I found a good candle (Caramel Pumpkin) for TK's teacher and kitchen/bathroom soap - 3 for $10 for me.

Then I crossed the blurry line. The one that sounds like "STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW. NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR BEING ADVENTUROUS. YOU ARE ALONE IN A SMELL STORE WITH TWO ORNERY LITTLE KIDS AND YOU AREN'T THINKING STRAIGHT."

But I ignored that and threw caution to the wind and for good measure I tossed in a room spray called "Sandalwood Vanilla". Ummmmm, right? Smelled so delish in the store. BUT, that could have been, and probably was, because it was mixed in with the other eleventy-hundred scents in the store, creating an illusion of Ummmmmmm.

I *somehow* and I really mean *somehow* accidentally sprayed a tiny drop of Sandalwood Vanilla in my cargo area...

My WHOLE car now stinks.

My car now stinks like "Ode de Mature Woman Wearing Some Estee Lauder Fragrance That Expired Like 5 Years Ago."

What's my point?

I don't recommend Sandalwood Vanilla as a way to freshen anything.

Can you use that in a sentence?

Today my amazingly amazing 5 year old used the word perseverance. in a sentence. in context.

All we could do was smile. And then all I could think was "Slow down, sweet boy...slow down. I'm not ready yet."

I wonder if there's a hole in my stomach

I was stuck yesterday with a heck of a migraine and nothing to take. I'm not on a daily med right now and had no medication to arrest the headache.

So, I'm just wondering if my homemade (read: desperation) remedy of One (1) 800 mg Ibuprofen, Two (2) Excedrin Migraine, Four (4) aspirin and One (1) Robaxin that Todd was prescribed for his shoulder, in addition to an aromatherapy bath - capped off by a freezing water head rinse and about a gallon of water to drink will have any lasting effects on me...?

Migraine

Headache

And lastly...

Dear Wealthy Retired Golfer and wife:

If you are in your personalized cart - in the school zone - during afternoon dismissal - and you see me in my big vehicle bearing down on you - while yelling at my 5 year old in the backseat - don't keep going and shake your head at me like I was wrong when I don't stop for you to cross the school driveway.

It won't be so funny after I've hit you.

P.S. School dismisses at 3:45 EACH WEEKDAY. I'm there all of them. My son gets daily notes so I'm likely to be repeating today's scene every day. Watch out for me.

Love ya!

Pictures of what keeps us busy

TK's rock climbing universe tour...it'll work as long as that snappy belayer comes along...and continues to act like a bored 16 year old who loves her job.



See that chair behind me with the baby booster seat in it? Well at 18 months I think I'm too big to sit in that chair to eat so I will only sit in a big chair or I'll starve myself and throw all my food on the floor. Just making it easy for my parents.

It never gets old

Holding a brand new baby, that is. (Please ignore my appearance and the bra strap that just won't be hidden) and look at the sweetest baby face since April 24, 2007. (That's the day the little one was born) :-)

New addition

My newest nephew is here. Jackson arrived this morning weighing in at 7lb, 6oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Everyone is happy and healthy.

Our basketball team is almost complete with my 2 - ages 5.5 and 1.5 and now Brian's 2 - ages 2.5 and newborn.

Poor TK will always be Godzilla of the bunch, but these cousins love each other and have so much fun together.

Praise the Lord for his miracles.

And speaking of stealing...

Today at Target I decided to buy a new bath puff - those meshy-sponge like things you can use in the shower. Obviously, that is an instant entertainment device for the little one in the cart.

Checkout was the TOTALLY AWESOME experience it always is and during that fun I got distracted and forgot to get the puff from the little one.

I realized this when I got to the car. Sweating (why me Lord?) and frustrated over what I like to call "checkout line begging 2.0" I look down to see the little one with the now stolen puff.

I was all "CRAP. I have frozen items. I'm not going back in."

Buuuuttttt, I can't take a stolen puff home with me either...Dilemma.

I finally decided to leave the puff in the cart and take the cart back inside. And if someone tries to stop me and tell me that I forgot my puff I'll fall back on my standard "Tracy no speaka English" and walk on. Luckily, nobody tried to stop me and end up with a dose of my dazzling Spanglish.

My rationale: Now, Target has the puff they think someone paid for and forgot and I'm off the hook for getting into Heaven later because I didn't *actually* steal and take the puff home. Downside of my rationale: I have to use my hands with my new body wash. Nice.

Bite, bite, bite, bite!

Do you let your kids eat from the grocery cart while you are shopping? I don't mean fruit and stuff that is weighed, etc., because that would be stealing. :-)

No, I mean like crackers, etc.? I do and my grandmother doesn't really get that. She told me that her kids would have to wait until they got home. I was like "Wow, my mom and her brothers must have been good and well fed kids."

I took the little one to the grocery store with me this afternoon. Little one + shopping of any kind = me having a meltdown. He stands up in the cart, he yells, he grabs anything within 6 ft of the cart (long arms) and did I mention the yelling and standing?

Well, lately, he's also not been content to let ANYONE eat ANYTHING in his presence without yelling "BITE!, BITE!, BITE!" until he consumes every morsel of what you have/had.

This grocery visit was a new low for us. I ordered chicken from the deli and they always give you the sample. As soon as the little one saw the .1000 of an ounce of chicken he yelled "BITE!". So I gave him the bite.

Talk about awakening the beast...

The beast became so awakened that when I checked out I just scanned the empty bag...that once held 1/2 lb of deli chicken...

I think we're going to have to reevaluate the nickname "Bitty".

Dangit!

I didn't get my weekly installment of "Who is getting beat by State this weekend?" up today and I caused them to lose...to Auburn...by one point.

Dangit.

Sorry State.

Are glue guns so 1997?

I'm not sure.

I rediscovered and re-fell-in-love with my glue gun tonight when for the eleventy-hundredth time the kids ripped the rope trim off of the ottoman tray. Okay kids, it was funny the first few times, but now it's not so funny anymore.

Anyway, it occurred to me as I blew the 6-inch thick layer of dust off of my glue gun that they are damn handy and should not be relegated to the garage all of the time...

That's all.

The honeymoon is over

It lasted almost 2.5 weeks though, so that's pretty good.

The letter went something like this...

Dear Parents of _______________:

TK has had a difficult week this week keeping his hands to himself....

And it went on from there to say that "he's a very sweet child", "does seem to be hitting playfully", "has been talked to repeatedly", "is not making good choices".

Phew.

I wrote a short dissertation back to her explaining that we would work on this. I love his teacher and so does he so that's a good place to start from.

This hitting thing - should be a piece of cake. Not counting the 4 times he hit or got rough with the little one in the 3 hours he's been home from school. I guess we'll start tomorrow. :-<

A riddle

Q: What's tan and clear and sticky with red and purple dots and some white strips mixed in?

A: The PILE of popsicle sticks, popsicle wrappers and fruit-by-the-foot wrappers I found behind the TV cabinet and speakers when I was innocently cleaning yesterday.

Apparently - and don't quote me on this - it's easier to chuck the wrappers over and sticks the TV and speakers than it is to walk 6 feet the other way to the trash can. At least, that's the case if you are 5 and the TV is tuned to Transformers Animated.

Who ever told me parenting was easy is in for a serious butt-kicking because they totally lied!

Should naming children be a supervised activity?

Dear laFamily:

I saw you today when I was driving my son to his school party. You were in the left lane and far enough ahead of me so that when we came to the stoplight I could see your "bragging" stickers on the back of your Suburban. You know the stickers that say "MHS Varsity Football - Caden", etc. The ones that most professionals say DON'T PUT ON YOUR CAR BECAUSE IT MAKES IT EASIER FOR PEDOPHILES TO GAIN YOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST IF THEY KNOW THEIR NAME AND WHAT THEIR INTERESTS ARE - but I digress. That's not what I'm writing to you about.

Actually, I wanted to comment on the amazing originality of your children's names. Believe me, I realize that all the good ones are taken and that you really have to struggle to be original.

I just want to say that I applaud your ingenuity. I salute your creative risk-taking. I commend you for going so far out on a limb.

I just hope that your lucky girls, LaKayla and LaChrista feel the same way...

Way to go LaMom. You LaRock!

Much love,

Let's try this again

And now for the weekly installment of

"WHO IS GETTING BEAT BY STATE THIS WEEKEND?"

Game 2

Southeastern Lousiana v. MSU

GO STATE!!!

Dear Dierdra (yes, that's really the spelling)

Dear Dierdra:

I can't tell exactly how old you are, but the white hair and nose-perched glasses make me think that your toe ring is probably a little too young for you.

I have a big favor to ask. If it's not too much trouble, please wait until you get home to take your Bath & Body Works receipt survey. Most of us are waiting for post surgery news about our loved ones and you yelling into the cell phone "those scents just scream "fall" to me" and "I love your candles, but not the 3-wick ones" is not really of interest to any of us.

And while I'm out on the favor limb, could you please just step into the hall when you call the local store to loudly inquire "HOW LONG ARE YOUR WALLFLOWERS ON 2 FOR 1 SPECIAL? WALLFLOWERS! YES, WALLFLOWERS!...OKAY, THANK YOU". I don't mean to judge, but you were waiting for news of someone being cut open under anesthesia. I'm just saying, the wallflowers sale at Bath & Body Works can wait. Really.

And lastly, Dierdra. Don't think I didn't see you get up and move when that doctor came out to update those two crazy ladies. I know he was loud. It's just ironic that the loudest person moves when someone else goes a little over the preferred decibel level. Oh Dierdra.

I appreciate you hearing me out Dierdra (and thanks for spelling your name 2 times - that was a bonus).

I know the hospital waiting room is boring, so thanks for understanding.

Love,

That's all it took

This morning for the eleventy-hundredth time I heard "You really do love Bitty more than me. You really do care about Bitty more than me."

AAACCCKKK.

When will it end, I asked myself.

Shortly after that exchange, the little one started pulling the clothes off of a chair he wanted to get in. That was taking too long so he decided to pull the entire laundry basket off. Once that was all dumped on the floor, he kicked his way around it and started to climb into the chair. I went over and said "No, no Bitty." and jokingly tapped him on the diaper. The little one turned from the chair and went the other way.

When I turned around I saw TK laying on the bean bag taking it all in. A big smile came across his face and he happily said "OOOOHHH. I guess you really do love us both equally after all."

?????????????????

Sooo, just so I'm clear. It's not that I'm nicer to the little one, it's that I'm not as mean?

Is that good or bad?

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwuh!

Yesterday we headed to Todd's grandmother's house for lunch. About 15 minutes into the trip TK asked if we were dropping him off at school. I told him school was closed on Saturday and Sunday and he was mad. And by mad I mean mad. Mad enough to say that closing school was the "stupidest idea in the world". I couldn't help but be a little envious of that enthusiasm... and a little sad knowing he will be just another jaded, cynical kid this time next year. :-)

Sooooo, that didn't go as planned

State didn't exactly *win*, but I think it was planned. A calculated move. I think they were just throwing LaTech a bone since LaTech has 3 road games upcoming against BCS teams. You know, let them have a win - a feel-good gesture if you will . :-)

Game 1

And now for the weekly installment of

"WHO IS GETTING BEAT BY STATE THIS WEEKEND?"

Game 1

MSU v. Louisiana Tech

GO STATE!!!