Wow. I'm a huge loser, and I promise to do better TODAY. That said, I'll have to do a blog this afternoon :)

Thursday, January 13th

This morning was negotiation time. David was invited to a party for his classmate Hope. I had to find him a ride to the movie theatre so that he could join the group seeing TRON: The Legacy. I found Gina Hickson in the parking lot, and she agreed to take him and better yet, get him a present. She is such a lifesaver. Thankfully, I have been able to do the same for her so I don't feel so much like an imposition when she helps me out. I told David and he was excited.

But, I had to help Mason do his homework sheet in class before it started. Ugh. His attention span was less than advantageous, to say it nicely. We counted items in the picture and colored in squares for how many there were and made a bar graph. Let's clear that up. I, HEIDI, made a bar graph. Mason sighed. And fidgeted. And drew a desultory line across the paper while I colored in the squares.

Edwin picked up Caroline and Mason and took them home. I went at 11 to Janet's office to join her and Brian for a webinar on blog building. It was great, and then at 12:45 I went out to Riverside and took photos and notes of a new class that A&M and TEEX's TFSA are putting on for Crime Scene Investigation. The class was all girls! What? Boys too squeamish? Those girls were having a great time finding the shell casings, bullet holes, tire marks, blood drops, duct tape, broken glass, etc. The Eagle and KBTX, the local newspaper and tv station, had sent crews as well, so it was exciting and hard to stay out of each other's shots. I got to go into the house after all the media left and visit with Christine and get a quote from a student.

I went home and did some work with the photos so I could upload them to Flickr. Then, I picked up Connor and David from Cinemark, and we took Connor home. I went home, worked more, talked with Mimi, and apparently snored a lot while I slept. Sorry Edwin!

Wednesday, January 12.

It's the basketball game day. Thank goodness. Mason was about to explode. BACKSTORY: For reading at KOR, if the students keep track of their hours and get so many, they can win free tickets to Texas A&M Basketball games. This month, it's the men's team. So, David won two free tickets with his reading. Mason, who isn't reading and wouldn't bother keeping track anyway, was incensed on Monday when the teacher handed out the free tickets and he didn't get any. He insisted that I get on the computer THIS MINUTE and buy his. I told him that Daddy was going to take David and that they could buy his at the game. I told him that if he would read with me and we kept track of it, he could get his own free tickets. He said NO, it wasn't for reading, that I was wrong. He is such a BUTT.

So, this morning, it was 25 degrees (!) and when I dropped the kids off at school it was very cold. I told David that he had to take Mason up to the Early Room and that he couldn't play Wall Ball. Some kids were still outside, but that was just crazy. David was not happy with me. He was angry I made him wear a coat. It's those Texan men :)

I went to the meeting and saw Janet, my boss, who'd been in Egypt after Xmas. I hadn't seen her since before the break, so it was great catching up. She then sent me the Quest article that she and Brian had edited, and I sent it on to the PS&S people for checking. It's due on Friday.

After pickup and a quick lunch, I took Mason to Speech Therapy with Ms Darlene, who is always so positive. He, of course, is very bossy. I can hear that stident tone coming out from behind the door and I am just glad to get a break from it. :) He was rude to someone in the *aligator* (elevator) and when I apologized, the man asked me his age, and then said "Oh, it's okay, he's a precocious seven-year old!" Ugh. Why are ALL of my children precocious?

I am now sitting in the house ALONE (jealous??) while the HARD boys are at the basketball game and Caroline is at Youth. Yea!

UPDATE: My friend Helen Flynn texted me: Just saw Ed and boys in line for bathroom. He told Mason we're the team in white and Mason keeps yelling "Go white boys!" :)

Edwin also told me that he asked the person next to him, holding cotton candy, if he could have some. The person gave him some and he ate it with relish. He also told someone whistling behind him to stop screaming. Ugh. What a menace! ;)

Tuesday, January 11. Sick day.

I did not feel good today; I did not LOOK good today either. I slept away the morning, did some facebook work for TEEX, and then picked up the kids. My friend Katie Ward asked if David wanted to come over and play with her son Joshua, so I sent him over to their car. I then manhandled Mason into our van, hoping he wouldn't notice that he wasn't included in the playdate. All I needed was for Caroline to get in our car so we could make a quick get-a-way. No go. The bratty *C* came out.

"David's in the Ward's car! What's he doing in their car? Why can't I go? What's he doing in their car. Mom, David's in their car. Mom!" Rinse and repeat in increasing loudness.

The Ward's are one of our favorite familys. Their three children play really well with my three children, and we've done a lot of combined playdates. Emma Ward is one of Caroline's very best friends. So, she assumes that if David gets to go over, she does. She kept standing by their suburban, yelling to me. I kept telling her to come and get in the car. Mason is starting to catch on that something is happening and he is not included. Crap. Nothing good will happen now. I then have to pull the big Mommy Bitch guns out.

"Caroline, get into this car this minute. I am the parent, NOT you. Get in the car NOW!!!!"

Caroline came storming over and got into the car. I am so angry now I am probably glowing with radioactive goo. I let her have it. I told her that 1) she was NOT invited to the Wards, 2) David was, 3) she is not David's parent, I am, 4) GIVE ME YOUR PHONE, and 5) her behavior was immature, inappropriate and so rude that I can't believe that she came from my body and I am totally ashamed of her. Ugh. We have had all of this conversation before. She is never to question me like that. She is never to talk to me like that. I am sure I had a LOT of nostril flare going on ;)

 BTW, I now have her phone. I don't think she will ever get it back.

Funny Mason story. Last night, when we were discussing what Mason wanted to happen on Saturday for his birthday, he said he wanted a Selena Gomez poster again. Edwin told him that Selena loved Justin Bieber. Mason said NO! Edwin said:

"Who is more handsome, you or Justin Bieber?"

and Mason replied,

"Me! I am AWESOME! High five!"

And he came over and slapped me up. :)

Monday, January 10. Where in College Station is a Selena Gomez poster?

On Monday, Mason had therapy with Ms Tracy again. He was very excited. I packed up a lunch in a red paper sack, and he demanded to know what was in it. On the ride over, I had to explain the contents over and over. I became so sick of saying "Capri Sun" that I refused to list it again. We got to the house, I tossed him in the door, and left. I then dropped the other two off at the house and went to Hastings. Someone at Target or WalMart had sworn he'd seen a Selena Gomez poster there--nay, TWO Selena posters there. L.I.A.R. liar-pants-on-fire. I scoured that d$mn store and didn't find it. I had to settle for two teeny-bopper magazines at $5 a pop and the super-deluxe $16 cd with the poster and dvd of The Time It Never Rained. Or isn't that the Elmer Kelton book? I love Elmer, but that's another story.

Of course, I was late then getting back to pick up Mason. In the meantime, he told Ms. Tracy that he was afraid his friend Porter, who lives in Pebble Creek too, would come by, see him, and think he had a new mother. WHAT?? We're going through a large insecurity stage with our big cognitive developments lately, and it's crazy the things that are coming out.

At 6:30, Edwin got home and I was ready to go to book club. It was carrot cake and wine at Helen Flynn's house and the book was Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. It's a slow moving book about a very solitary man who cuts hair in a small town in the south. Who had read it? Everyone but Paula and I; at least she had the good sense and courtesy to go online and read a synopsis. ~sigh~ Not me, of course. I blatantly attended for the cake. But I resolve to do better in the future. I did put a sample of it and the March and April books to be read on my Kindle: Harry Truman's Excellent Adventures and Peace Like a River. February is Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden, and I borrowed Mary Skow's copy already so I'm ahead of the game on that one :) And then I called Mimi and totally depressed myself and slunk off to bed. Ugh.

Catching up.

Friday was very busy. So busy we didn't get to speech therapy. Yes Amy, I know. Saturday Mimi came to visit. When I spoke with her Friday eve, she mentioned coming over to see Aunt Florence for lunch and did I want to come? I told her I'd talk with Edwin. Well, Mimi came at noon to the house, ready to go. ~sigh~ I put on my big-girl pants and got ready. We called to Aunt Florence's, and she had some lunch at her house. So Mimi and I joined Karin and Aunt Florence at 750 N. Rosemary for lunch. The slightly toasty chocolate chip cookies for dessert were organic :) For an impromptu lunch, it was great, and a good time was had by all. Then, Mimi needed a new outfit for Jodi (Rob's daughter) Winkelmann's wedding next weekend (to which she pointed out I wasn't invited). So, we went to Morgan Fitzgeralds. We found a cute red/black jacket for her to wear, and scored some Vera Bradley as well. Then Mimi went home and Edwin attempted to throw himself off the roof fix the leak on the roof where the satellite dish was. He got it off and then caulked the holes. The fun was me trying to *throw* things up to him, like the pliers (okay) and a hanger (8 tries) and a stick to smooth the caulk (several million). Eventually, it was done and Edwin came down the ladder. His audience--Mason and David in lawn chairs--left much earlier. Only I was waiting for him and held the ladder for his triumphant descent. Caroline and Emma were at Cory's, visiting with the new puppy and kitty, so I went to get them around 6:30 p.m., accompanied by my cute shadow, Mason Hard, that I don't always appreciate but do really love. I need to remember to be better about that. Caroline got her hair curled by Sierra to look like Taylor Swift. I opened my mouth and inserted my foot by telling her I didn't like it. Proud mommy moment! I can really be a jerk sometimes, especially after Mimi visits. Ugh.

Today has been a cleaning opportunity ::coughcough::. Edwin cleaned our bathroom from stem to stern. My bathroom sink and counter are pristine. Lovely! I cleaned out the laundry room. The laundry room counter, cabinets, and sink are totally cleared off and cleaned out. There is actually space. Edwin made beef stew and it's wonderful. So even though cleaning is no fun, at least we are able to savor the rewards. And, since I washed the sheets for our bed, clean sheets tonight! Sleep, blessed sleep :)

Mason is turning seven.

Mason is turning seven. And according to him...

"When I turn seven, I am going to do things different."

Apparently, one of the things you can do legally when you are seven is wash your own hair. And ask for things. He gave me a laundry list in the van of the things he was going to ask me for once he turned seven.

I can't wait.

I have created the loudest children in the world.

I am soooo stupid. Sometimes I try to actually do something in the evenings. My children have gotten their second winds. They are so LOUD. They will not shut UP. Either my concentration/multi-tasking skills have just gone away, or else I'm getting old. But I can't do it. I have to shut down for the evening and it's only 6:16. I have to have some wine or else I'm going to take someone down. Ugh.

Halves?

In our family, we've had strange synchronicity with the kids ages. Caroline and David are two years + ten days apart, and Mason is four years + a month behind David and six years + six weeks behind Caroline.

So, when David turned eight in December 2007, Mason turned four the following January 2008. For almost 11 months, Mason was exactly half David's age.

I didn't think that would ever happen again because I'm not gifted at math.

But, in November 2009, Caroline turned 12. The following January 2010, Mason turned 6. So until last November 23, 2010, for roughly ten months, he was half Caroline's age.

On January 15, 2011, he will turn seven. Forever ending the halves. ~sigh~ What has happened to my babies?!?

Wednesday, Jan 5

This was a typical Wednesday for us. Started off dropping off the kids. Trying to get breakfast into them = nightmare. Threatened lives to get them into the van. The garage door is being really crochety, so pulled van out with kids in it, shut garage door, turned on the alarm, and went out the front door. At school, David doesn't like to take Mason up to the Early Room and stay there with him because he wants to play Wall Ball before school. Mason doesn't like sitting watching David play Wall Ball before school, and wants to go to the Early Room and have David stay there with him. Thus the power struggle begins. I really need to find more things to bargain with. David can be threatened with the XBox, but I feel really mean doing that constantly. Mason can be bribed with any form of sugar known to man, so that's easier. But my negotiating skills are already stretched at 7:49 a.m. in the morning, and I have no patience. Plus I am in an open arena filled with other Moms, so there is no room for error. I cannot implode into a screaming, expletive-spewing mess and beat them into submission (something I would never do anyway <<coughcough>>). This morning I chose the clever ploy of using all the kid's backpacks to build an ingenious barracade for Mason to hide behind in the Wall Ball area. Thus, he could be in the action, yet protected. And Katie Ward, who is always there willing to watch him, was on hand. She is my Mom God-sent friend at KOR. I have her back and she has mine. Thus, I was able to wheel away at 8:07 for my meeting across town at It's A Grind at 8:15. Yea!

After the meeting and then visiting with Brian at the Connally building, I met Amy for lunch at Jason's Deli. Whole wheat gnocchi with sweet potatoes? No, we didn't eat that--it's what I bought at World Market because Amy dared me. I'm going to try to make for it my family sometime this week. We're liking the pasta with pesto and feta cheese mixed in, so I thought I'd try this. I did not get the vodka marinara sauce to go with it, though. I'll just drink vodka along with it to make up for that.

Mason had his first speech therapy session with Ms Darlene for the year. Traveling up in the elevator, he asked the three ladies who got in with us,

"What did you get for Christmas?" 

and they had trouble remembering! We're working on putting together phonetics, and he's flying along. He also worked on wide and narrow and just aced that :) He also told a lady in the hall that she was really big. I need to work on things we think, and things we say. David needs a refresher course anyway....

Cussing: The Inheritance

I have tried not to cuss in front of the children. At first, when Caroline was just a baby, it was so easy to slip knowing that she wouldn't notice. But when David followed two years later, Caroline was really starting to be verbal, and I needed to try harder. Through reflux, milk allergies and RSV, I was able to just manage with an occasional damn or the shorter word for excrement. I'd try to wait until Caroline couldn't hear, but her little Gladys Kravitz ears were always there. By the time David was two, he was demanding to know where his damn tricycle was.

I don't cuss daily correction by Edwin: hourly. It just sort of builds in me until it pops. I'll be fine, and then I'll drop several bad words in a row. And sadly, sometimes people hear it. People I would prefer NOT hear it.

Caroline has always been like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, she's so cool. I don't know that I've ever heard her say anything. But we know that David has been getting reinforcement from somewhere, don't we? Just like that punch to the face I saw her give him when she thought I wasn't looking, I'm sure she was telling him beauties when I didn't hear. Reminding him of the words I would say when I slipped. I'm not blaming her for his cussing, oh no. I'm blaming myself for giving her ammunition.

Well, all of my sprinkled curses have born fruit this week. Not only was Mason talking about his freaking this and that, but David, totally provoked out of his mind by Mason's chatter, told him to shut the f-word up on Sunday night. Using the real f-word.

Sigh. Sooooo proud. ACK!

Sunday, January 2nd

This was a very quiet day for the family. I was able to go out at 9:30 and pick up Aunt Florence and take her to breakfast at Blue Bakers. It was a great trip for us; we got to visit and really enjoy ourselves. Of course, she encouraged me to take some sweets home to the family, which I did. When I dropped her off, Karin was in the den and she followed me back to Blue Baker where I finished my coffee while she had some breakfast/lunch. We also had a nice visit too. It's wonderful to have them here so close to me--I'm spoiled with them here and because we have such a nice, close relationship between us. It reminds me of how much I adore my aunts and uncles and cousins, and I need to make sure my children get the same exposure that I have had.

Saturday, January 1st

Happy New Year! We started off the day happy and well. Edwin and Caroline went to the mall to go shopping. David, Mason and I went to Brenham to visit Mimi. Her house was beautifully decorated for Christmas still, with a small tree up and lots of angels and santas and bells all over. The boys got to have Chick-fil-A before we left home, plus a shake, so they were well-behaved ... for them ;) We got a call from Edwin around 2 saying he couldn't find Caroline but then got a relieved phone call a little later saying that he'd run into her and was picking her up later. The boys and I stayed until around 5, when we left Brenham and returned home. They watched IRON MAN in the car and were actually quiet, which was great. Mason, Mr. Speech/Comprehension Delay, has made great strides lately, and this was really shown when I had to correct him in the car. He had his DS game on REALLY loud, and David asked him to turn it down so he could hear the movie. Mason complained loudly. I told him to turn it down because it really WAS loud. Mason turned to me and said, quite loudly,

"Are you taking his side over mine? Are you choosing him over me?"

I had to crack up. He totally would not have been able to do that before. With progress comes problems for Mommy :)

When we got home Edwin and Caroline were here, and we had a nice supper all together. We've had a great vacation spending time together.

Tuesday, January 4th

We're having some issues with Justin Bieber dating Selena Gomez. This morning, I went into the dining room where Caroline was supposedly doing homework. However, there were photos of Justin and Selena on their Mexican vacation on my computer. Caroline is soooo disgusted. But, it isn't just Caroline that's having problems. Mason is also disgusted, but the other way. He thinks Selena shouldn't date anyone but him. He has now asked for a Selena Gomez poster for the wall of his room for his birthday on the 15th. Caroline and Mason actually got into a smackdown about who was prettier--Selena or Justin. Amazing. Poor David just hides from them shaking his head in disgust. He did make sure that Mason was NOT putting the Selena poster up in HIS room.

First Day Back at School!

Oh Happy Days! We were all very excited to get up early and go to school. Caroline was very excited to wear her new horse t-shirt from Forever 21. David--didn't do his homework from school. Mason didn't want to be an Aggie and wear the sweatsuit I layed out for him. Sucks to be a non-Aggie in College Station?!? He's been playing with Joshua Ward too much :) I went to Target after drop-off, and WOW it was nice. No one was there--perfect Mommy hour shopping. Then I went to a meeting with James at the Connally building where he taught me how to build a blog. Then a quick trip home to dump the groceries, back up to school for pickup, and home again for lunch. Mason went to tutoring at 2 with Tracy Sawyer. We haven't seen her for several weeks and it was great to get back into the swing of things. Mason had a great session and after I picked him up, we went home and I worked while he watched IRON MAN 2. I got to do my first blog about Ruslan Jafarov, a TEEXan from Azerbaijan! Now it's off to get everyone fed and into bed. Maybe some reading? Maybe just sleep!