Saturday, August 22, 2009

Not Sure How I Feel About This But.....

Last night, we were in Target waiting to get her hair cut and Eva just burst into song. It cracked me up so much!!

So, today, I recorded her singing two versions. The first was what I heard last night. After we recorded it, Eva said, "Eva do it, again!" and I taped the second version. It made me laugh so hard!!

We hardly let the kids watch any television so I'm not sure where she learned it but she did!

Jack's Barber Shop

So, we've had an interesting week this week. I came home from work on Monday to find that Jack had completely chopped his bangs off of his head.



To make matters worse, as I was cleaning up his room, I found this in an empty bucket that I had just purchased.


Anyway, Jon and I were VERY unhappy and on Wednesday, I took him off to the barber to get his hair evened out. I mean, school starts on MONDAY! First day of school pics are MONDAY! grrr.

Fast forward to Friday. I come home from work and I take a look at Eva and I'm like, what is wrong with her hair? It looks so strange. Hold it. Eva's bangs have a huge chunk taken out of them. Off to SuperCuts AGAIN!!!

Poor girl. I mean, it took her two years to get any hair at all. As soon as some was growing in, she started chemotherapy and lost it all. THEN, when it was finally growing in...bam! Barber Jack.

I was really unhappy. Here she is now. You can see the post below to check out her 'do last week.


So, tried to think of an effective punishment for Jack. Finally came up with two. One, he had to miss the two birthday parties for his three close friends today (a punishment for me, too, because I missed seeing the other Moms!) and two, he had to take out of the commercial money that he received for his NFL ad that he was saving to buy a camera and pay for the two haircuts.

The truth is, I felt horrible about the punishment. Jack has been an angel today and I really wanted him to go off with his friends. But, had to do what I had to do. I just have to take a look at Eva to get over it.

A friend of mine recommended that I sleep with one eye open since Jack might be in search of a new "client". Good advice, indeed!

Monday, August 17, 2009

File this Under the Things You Always Say You'll Never Do as a Parent but You Do Anyway

My time with my kids at Camp Grandma ended on Thursday with my arrival in NC. We had decided to take the kids to Myrtle Beach for a couple of days since my kids had not been to the beach all summer.

So, off we go as a family. Six kids under the age of 8 and four adults. We had a blast. The kids played and played.

Eva especially loved being pulled around on a boogie board in the tidal pool. Jack, he was Mr. Sandcastle. I also taught Jack when to jump over waves and when to dive into them. He had a ball.






After we left the beach, we went to dinner in a part of town called Barefoot Landing. Off in the distance, Jack saw a bungee jump. Now, let me just say I am completely against this kind of thing. Call me crazy but the thought of my child landing on his head just scares me to death. BUT, I'm not sure what got into me, Jack asked to do it and I said yes before I thought better.

That said, Jack LOVED it! Check him out!!!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

50 Bands

My best friend, Alex, and another girlfriend, Nicole, tagged me recently in their facebook posts that lists 50 Bands/Acts that they have seen in their years. Ordinarily, I don't participate in these things but this one was really fun.

Since I go to so many music festivals and I can name 50 bands I saw this past April at Jazzfest, I tried to limit myself to those concerts that I actually paid money to see individually.

No judgement, please.

Ok, you can judge.

1. U2
2. Jack Wagner
3. INXS
4. Ziggy Marley
5. Peter Gabriel
6. Janet Jackson
7. Prince
8. Sting
9. Live
10. Crowded House
11. Buddy Guy
12. Ruthie Foster
13. Eric Clapton
14. Marcia Ball
15. Eddie from Ohio
16. Lyle Lovett
17. Robert Earl Keen
18. Los Lobos
19. BB King
20. Blues Traveler
21. The Imagination Movers
22. The Wiggles
23. The Police
24. Dave Matthews Band
25. John Mayer
26. B 52's
27. Violent Femmes
28. KC and the Sunshine Band
29. Robert Randolph and the Family Band
30. The Go Go's
31. Harry Connick, Jr.
32. Buckwheat Zydeco
33. Adam Ant
34. Bruce Springsteen
35. Paul Simon
36. The Gap Band
37. Amy Grant
38. Neil Finn
39. Air Supply
40. Cowboy Mouth
41. Alison Krauss
42. Diana Krall
43. My Morning Jacket
44. Barry Manilow
45. Indigo Girls
46. UB40
47. REM
48. Robert Plant
49. Hootie and the Blowfish
50. And of course, Bon Jovi

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Confession Tuesday

Good Evening Folks!

I hope you're having a fine Tuesday. For me, it is LEAPS and BOUNDS better than yesterday. Yesterday, I woke up the same as I had for the past week or so in a panic over Eva's test results. Today, I was able to wake up with the knowledge that all was well, at least for now! It is a great feeling, I tell ya.
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Today is a special day for many reasons. It turns out that today is my dear friend, Whitney's 40th birthday, my dear friend Kathryn's birthday, our "honeymoon buddies", the Wilson's, 8th anniversary, and my niece Ella's 4th birthday. Quite a special day.
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Jon is up in Boston right now on a business trip but spending the evening with Ella on her special day! Happy Birthday baby girl!
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I'm holding down the fort here in the Big D. Things are cooking around here. First, we are doing some remodeling. FINALLY getting our new windows that we have been wanting for months. I swear, it looks like a new house! AND our electric and gas bill will go down significantly, now that we don't have windows that will not close all the way.

You know, when you do minor repairs like painting and windows, it makes your house seem so new! Next stop, having all ceilings painted inside the house, painting Jack's room and getting a new coat of paint in our den. WAHOO! New Goodnight Mom house!!
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Jack and Eva are heading to "Camp Grandma" in North Carolina on Saturday. They cannot wait. Jon and I are flying out to meet them on Thursday but that will give us five whole days in Dallas by ourselves! It is so sad but we're mostly excited about working late and getting home projects done without the kids. I'm sure there will be some late nights, knowing us, but still, it's a new day when all we want to do is work late. Sad...
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Ok, here's the thing. The fact is that our nanny goes home at 5:30 and it is SUCH a stress that I have to make sure I leave the office no later than 5:00pm EVERY SINGLE day! Does not matter that I'm in the middle of something or that I have a meeting. I have to race out the door. It is so hard!

I know, I'm a bad parent and I should be thrilled to spend every minute with my kids. I am thrilled. It is just the "have to" that gets me. I try to work at night after the kids go to bed but sometimes, I'm just on a roll and I want to stay an extra 30 min so I can turn it off when I get home. Alas...
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BUT not next week! Jon and I have so much planned! Wahoo! AND our 8th anniversary is coming up two weeks from today. Since Jon will be out on a business trip, we're going to celebrate a bit early when the kids are gone.
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So, I asked Jack what he was looking most forward to seeing in North Carolina. He told me that he was most excited about the "b-e-a-c-h". He cracks me up when he spells things.

The kids have been on a roll recently. I was so sad that Jon missed the antics at dinner last night.

Jack informed me that when he was going to NC, he was going to call an "emergency meeting of the boy's club". Hmm. Ok, Jack, who's in that club? "Me (5), Davis (3), James (8 mos) and Andrew (3mos). " Wow. That will be quite a meeting, Jack. What will you discuss? "Well, the first thing is that we have to find a new director. I think that Andrew should direct the meetings." THAT is something I'd like to see! Jack, what about your sister and your BFF cousin, Claire? "Well, since they are girls, they can come to the emergency meeting of the boy's club BUT they cannot direct the meetings. Only boys can direct the meetings." Jack, you were born in the wrong era, my friend, if you think that will fly with those strong-headed gals!

It was hilarious. He just went on and on. The funny thing is that I could not discover why there needed to be an "emergency" meeting in the first place. What did they have to urgently discuss? I told my sister that she needed to attend to take some notes. That will be very important to make sure they cover all their agenda items.
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Also last night, Jack was going on and on about something. Eva turned to him and said, "Jack, stop being such a cwy baby." I fell out of my chair.
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There is one word in our family that reduces the children to hysterical laughter no matter what they are doing. That word is "spaghetti". Eva can be throwing the biggest hissy fit and you look at her and say the magic word, she bursts out laughing. It is the answer to all knock knock jokes. (example: knock knock, who's there? Spaghetti---nothing else needs to be said. Hysterical laughter ensues.) What makes that word so funny? I don't know. I just keep it in my arsenal.
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Ok, here's a real confession. Tonight, I was in the restroom. The phone rings. Eva runs over to the phone and answers it.

I hear her say, "Nope. She can't. She's going poop. Good bye."

Hang up.

I sure hope it was a telemarketer.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Good Scans

Today, Eva had an MRI. Right now, we're having her scanned every three months.

We ran into our doctor in the elevator on the way back and he said he would call us as soon as he had any word.

A couple of hours later, we got the word that the scans were good!!! The small tumor that was left behind is, "hardly noticeable." That's movement in the right direction!

Hooray!!!!

What does that mean, well, we go to the doctor next month and then scan again in November.

I won't go on and on about my emotions with this news. I will say that I have a bit of a delayed celebration. You just get so prepared for the bad news that it takes some time to get your head wrapped around the good news. It is such an emotional roller coaster. Feeling better now.

Of course, I have Eva asleep in my bed waiting for me to snuggle.

Never gonna let that gal go.