Monday Mumbles 8

1. Last Christmas, we did a gift exchange at work. I ended up with a big tin box of peppermint bark. It was DELICIOUS. We JUST finished it this past week, and the entire house was sad.

2. It might have taken that long because I am an anti-sugar mama who only dished out tiny morsels at a time.

3. I don't do much talking about work around these parts, but two occurrences this week are worth mentioning. My company turned 100 years old this year and we had a celebration at the downtown district. They had a party trolley to take us from the office buildings to the district, although it was walking distance. We hitched a ride!

4. Second, we acquired new employees through an acquisition of business. There has been a particular set of new folks who have made my job and life infinitely easier. I have been searching for ways to recognize them, but one gal beat me to the punch in reverse. She sent me a TOWER, literally. Six boxes stacked on top of one another, small to big, full of different chocolate treats. Her card simply said, "Thanks for the warm welcome and all the support since." This group is fantastic, and so is she.

5. Turner started tournaments with his 3rd grade basketball team this past weekend, and it's exciting now that it's an all 3rd grade team. Compared to the combined 3, 4, and 5 grades, they're playing against more equally sized opponents and our 3rd graders get more playing time.

6. Turner told me he only played one video game in the last week and a half. My response? Thank goodness!

7. We continue working with Owen on reading. It is so vastly different teaching him compared to Turner, so I'm reaching and attempting new and different techniques each night. My patience gets worn, but I am determined to have him reading full sentences without aid by August.

8. I was lounging in bed Sunday morning and sissy walked in.....with a purse on one shoulder and her feet in my heels. This happens a LOT.

9. I made the mistake of signing up for the Corporate Challenge 5k again. I was really hoping my slower "expected" time would knock me out of contention for competing, but it didn't. I run it on May 4, and just this Sunday ran a respectable time.

10. I'm ready to attend a Royals game. Who's in?

Funny Face Friday 5

Tuesday Owenisms 6

One day Hubs is hanging with Owen and Sis. As usual, some spat or another breaks out between the two of them. 

Owen:  I am SO MAD AT YOU Sissy!!! When I get older, I'M NOT MARRYING YOU!

Hubs decides to tune in and turns to Owen.

Hubs:  Owen, what did you say?

Owen:  Sissy makes me so mad I'm never marrying her when we get older!

Hubs:  You can't marry Sissy, Owen!

Owen:  What? You SAID I had to marry a girl......

Hubs:  Not THAT girl! Some girl you meet when you get big!

Monday Mumbles 7

1. I am so happy that baseball season has started. I love coming home to a game nearly every night of the spring and summer.

2. I am not so fascinated with golf. Or NASCAR.

3. I've had a headache for over a week now. It started as just a pressure-like annoyance, but it's to the point where I'm willing to call Hub's "regular family doctor" and make an appointment.

4. I actually went 3 for 7 this week without a Coke. I generally allow myself one a day (and on rarer occasions I'll slip in two). This past week, I did NOT have one on Monday, Wednesday, or Sunday.

5. I do not believe this attributes to the headaches, in case you thought that. The aches started before I started weaning, and at times I've woken UP with an ache first thing in the morning.

6. Five mumbles started with I. Oops.

7. Hubs records a LOT of things on DVR. On Sunday, he pressed PLAY on an old flick called Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. I couldn't stop watching. Have you seen it? It's a 1967 film including Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sidney Poitier where Poitier plays a doctor wanting to marry a white woman, and the parents of the engaged couple have dinner together and discuss the issue through several one on one conversations. Intriguing.

8. "You are 30 years older than I am. You and your whole lousy generation believes the way it was for you is the way it's GOT to be. And not until your whole generation has lain down and died will the dead weight of you be off our backs! Do you understand, you've got to get off my back."

9. Rarely do I find myself siding with a child when arguments arise between children and parents. That quote above was actually the tail end of a scene from the movie mentioned in #7. I just might expand on this thought during my Wednesday Write.

10. In the end, we just have to continue to evaluate our actions and our responses, and make adjustments along the road. That's whether you are a parent or a person. Self-evaluation is entirely voluntary, but entirely necessary.

Funny Face Friday 4

Fun times at Uncle Jimmy and soon-to-be Aunt Rachel's place!

Thankful Thursday 5

I am thankful for co-workers who want to work as a team to accomplish the best results for the client. We all play different parts, but the results affect us all the same. We stay employed.

I am thankful for controversy, as difficult as it is for me to swallow some days. Being on the receiving end of negativity is hard for me to handle because I always believe there is a simpler, more productive way to handle business. However, without this controversy I wouldn't find new and improved ways to respond effectively.

I am thankful for my Owen and all his craziness. He is five today.

Monday Mumbles 6

1. I'm very proud of Turner and his STRETCH class this school year. I'm worried the homework is taking its toll. It's a good thing there is only a month and a half left of school.

2. Owen finally graduated from the easy tricycle to the training wheel bike. We didn't force him, and he never wanted to move "up". Hubs put the wheels on, I took him and the bike AWAY from Hubs, and KAPOOYAH! He had it.

3. We have a neighbor who has a dog. This dog hops all the local fences and ends up in all yards but his own. I'm just thankful it's a lab and not another breed.

4. My dad's little triangle of backyard neighbors had a cookout Saturday night. It ended with Smores. Perfect.

5. Hubs and his sneezing need to GO. Anywhere but here.

6. Our family fun run on Saturday morning was terrific. It was close to 60 degrees and everyone came along. Hubs drove us out to a lake road with lots of hills and he putted along next to us the entire half hour. Turner, Owen, and Evelyn would hop in and out as they needed to, for rest and water. It was the most fun I've had as a family in quite awhile.

7. Hubs just said I rile white women up. By being loud and assertive. Whatever works?

8. Before my siblings text me and ask, this came up in conversation because at a restaurant Sunday afternoon, the kids were stake claiming their food rather noisily. I simply said (apparently with some volume), "You'll get what I tell you you're getting." A (white) woman leaving said, "That's right! We need to start doing that with our kids. That's how you handle them today."

9. I apparently also had our neighbor (not the one with the dog) cheering my support when I yelled at a "down the road" neighbor who was driving too fast.

10. Happy Monday.

Get Write Wednesday 4

Hubs and I were able to take a few hours Saturday evening and hang with some adults. We dearly love our little eggs, but Turner and Owen and Evelyn needed some time away from us. I mean, we can be overbearing at times. What child doesn't want away for a bit?

And boy it sure felt good.

The conversation turned to Facebook and the ups and downs of social networking. Hubs doesn't Facebook, doesn't tweet, isn't LinkedIn. His cousin, whose company we were enjoying, is also of the same mindset. They were both slow to text too, in case you wondered. There were others there who do, though, and we discussed our experiences.

What I realized as the conversation progressed is that I have an extremely solid group of social networking individuals. I rarely get status updates on Facebook that make me cringe. I delete those that frequently post them. My Twitter feed is for lighthearted updates, generally sports, and nothing heavy.

The people I choose to keep on these two networks don't inundate their "friends" and "followers" with LOOK AT ME and MY KIDS ROCK information. They also don't air all their dirty laundry because they know better. It seems so simple to me. Respect privacy.

What is failing to be grasped generally is this - Respect.

• Respect that true friendship is found when those friends understand the struggles you go through to achieve the triumphs you place on Facebook. 
• Respect that true friendship is built by people who already know your children are powerful little creatures with loads of potential because they've seen them, met them, talked with them. 
• Respect your own privacy and know that whatever demons you and your spouse experience are built especially for you. And more importantly, no one else truly knows what that experience entails.
• Respect your own privacy and those who struggle with you. It could be your friends or family or children. 

Judgment is so easy these days. We're given so many tools. Use them respectfully and more importantly, teach others how to as well. We owe it to our friends and children and spouses to set an example but to also spread educated messages about responsible socializing. It's getting out of hand, but it's also a beautiful thing when used properly. Choose wisely.

Tuesday Owenisms 5

Owen was playing "restaurant" one day. It mostly entailed him walking around the living room and kitchen, propositioning all of us.

"WHAT YOU WANT TO DRINK??!?

Owen's Restaurant!!!

Water! 
Milk!
Beer!
Apple juice!"

Sissy pipes up, of course.

"BEER!"

I'm doomed. They're doomed. Wish us luck.

Monday Mumbles 5

Better late than never. Sorry!

1.  I can't stand allergies. And not because they affect me but because they turn Hubs into a terrible, complaining monster who sniffles and sneezes to the point of utter distraction and annoyance.

2. Oh, did I mention we just had our wedding anniversary on Sunday, March 31st? Yea us!

3.  Did I also mention that our family is now slightly intrigued by the show Duck Dynasty? Yeah.

4.  Over the weekend, we took the kids to the KU campus. We ventured to the Spencer Art Museum, but the aroma in the building was too overwhelming for our sensitive little whelps. We quickly exited. It smelled like dead people.

5.  The second museum, the Natural History Museum, was MUCH better. The kids loved it and all the dead animals on display. One death was better than another, apparently.

6.  A few weeks ago I mentioned a team building race we were planning for. It's no longer happening and I realized I was actually looking forward to it.

7.  I'm getting anxious to go rent the Game of Thrones TV series. I'm in the middle of book 4, need to buy book 5, and then I get to watch!

8. Owen had a little fever Sunday and had a fairly miserable holiday, but Monday had him back to normal, and I was relieved. My little crazy boy was so sad when he didn't feel well but I have to admit I loved getting to hold him close.

9.  My brother put me onto a new game and I love it. Word On. It says "get your word on". It's like Scrabble without the board, which is good for me because I suck at the board.

10. Or maybe I just suck at Scrabble.