They grow up so fast!

It is unbelivable how quickly time flies when you are raising children. Let me explain.

Christian has been coming home these past few days talking about a girl in his class named Hunter. Apparently he overheard Hunter and her friend Linda talking about how Hunter has a crush on Christian. He confronted them about it and she admitted to his face that, "she likes him." So he comes home and tells me all about his day. Well later on I see him writing a note with a picture drawn on it. I ask him what it is about, so he shows me. In a nutshell he tells Hunter he has a "crush" on her too. He tells me he plans to leave this note on the corner of her desk so when she comes back from gym she will see it.

Ben drove the boys to school today and he called me after he dropped them off. He said the entire way Christian was so nervous about leaving this note for Hunter. William, the ever practical one, says to him,

"Christian, why don't you just walk up to her and give it to her. She knows it is from you anyway because you signed it!"

"No way! That would be embarrasing!"

So now I await the results of this dramatic day for my son and to hear if his heart will be broken. William had some questions for me yesterday on the way home from school about this whole developing "love" relationship between his brother and Hunter. It went something like this.

"Now that Christian and Hunter like each other what happens next?"

"Well, nothing happens. What would happen?"

"You know, when people fall in love, don't they get married or something? What happens?"

"Christian is not in love. He just likes Hunter a little more than the other girls. That is not love."

Christian says, "I do too, Mom! She is perfect!"

And so it begins. Bring on third grade.

I was talking about this situation with Ben and wondering aloud if this isn't a bit too young to start having crushes. Ben said he can remember his first crush and playing kissing tag in kindergarten. Of course, anyone who knows Ben will not find that hard to believe at all.

So I got to thinking back when I was young and I remembered my very first crush. Jeffrey McMillan. His dad was a dentist and they lived in our ward in South Jordan, UT. I used to stand outside in the front yard waiting for him to pass by our house on his way home from school. I was seven. Each day I tried to think of something different and unique to get him to notice me. One day I set up a tee-pee in the front yard in the hope that he would find it too cool to resist and want to come and see it. Didn't work. The next day I was blowing up a balloon and acting like I did not know how to do it in hopes that he would offer his seven-year-old experience. I was ignored. Day after day I tried for his attention and was heartbroken when his affections went to my best friend Lisa. They played kick ball without me. Devastating.

Just in case you were wondering how on earth I remember all of that, I was a very avid journal keeper as a child and teenager. I made sure to document all of the major events such as Jeffrey McMillan for future prosperity to enjoy. You can thank me now for sharing with you. :-)

My Diagnosis

OK, I went to the ER night before last, but due to my computer being taken over by some text eating virus, and then me subsequently throwing it off the roof out of frustration, I was unable to post my results. OK, not really. But that is absolutely what I felt like doing.

The Doctor took x-rays and came back saying that I have a deep tissue contusion. Basically a really bad bruise. They said to take Ibuprofen and prescribed pain pills for the severe discomfort. My leg looks like someone took a bat to the back of it. If I can figure out a way of taking a picture that does not display all of my ass-ets I may post it for your viewing pleasure. I don't think I have ever had a bruise quite like this one.

In addition to my leg injury, I jarred my arm and neck pretty good, but other than some discomfort nothing is permanently damaged. It would have probably been easier and less painful had I actually broken something, because this whole tissue damage thing is going to take quite a while to heal according to the doctor.

So the lesson learned here - don't be ADD like I am and change course at the last minute before descending the stairs. Tragedy may ensue.

The End.

I am such a clutz

I cannot believe myself sometimes. I am on my way down the stairs to do some laundry when just as I begin to descend I remember that I need to get something out of my room. Well apparently my brain did not communicate this to my feet because they decided to keep on going. The result? My right foot slipped out from underneath me. I tried to turn my body to catch the railing but failed. I landed with all 150 pounds of me on my right femur sideways. I felt something snap. Could have been my neck, my back, my leg. I am not sure. But it is quite swollen and I am on my way to the ER now. Will post my results later. Wish me well.

Time to blog finally...

OK, I have time to myself finally! Ben has taken the kids camping to Glen Rose/Lake Whitney for the weekend and I am home alone with the baby. I had initially planned to go but Alex came down with fever, cough, snot nose, etc three days ago. He was put on breathing treatments 3 times a day with a follow-up scheduled for yesterday to see how his lungs were doing. Well he is still sick and now is vomiting everything he eats and has a double ear infection. So we are staying home while the others go out for a fun weekend. At least I will get to watch all of the movies I have wanted to see but have waited since there is always something more pressing going on. The remote is MINE!

On to my anniversary that I thought was so great. Ben always asks me "what do you want for (insert event here)." I am not too big on gifts since I can never think of what I want/need the most so I usually reply, "surprise me." Things that mean the most to me are sentimental ideas. Write a letter, take the kids out for the day, just do something along those lines, ideas like that are the best gifts in my opinion.

So our anniversary comes and he gets up, gets the kids ready for school and leaves for work/school. I actually figured he had forgotten what the day was since he usually does forget little details like that until I remind him later on. I had planned to make him his favorite dinner for when he got home that night. I am not big on cooking as everyone who knows me knows this to be true, so that was going to be quite the gift as far as I am concerned.

I get a text from him saying he is working on a project and will likely be home late. No big deal to me, I know how things go. So I am on the treadmill running my bum off when I hear Daisy freaking out barking. Around the corner comes Ben with a little gift bag. So I pause my workout, wipe off my attractive sweat and greet him with a little kiss.

Inside the gift bag was a card that I will absolutely treasure forever. I won't say exactly what it said, but in a nutshell it talked about how much he values the last nine years we have spent together and he would not have changed a single moment of it. How much he is looking forward to the rest of our lives together and all of the experiences we have yet to share with each other. There was more, but it may bore you and I want to keep my little love note personal, or at least somewhat personal.

Then I opened the gift. I absolutely love the Willow Tree figurines. So Ben picked out the absolute perfect one. The card that comes with it says, “For those who have found their true partner in love and life.” Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I love my husband. He also arranged for his mom to get the kids from school so we went on a real date! How long has it been? Lunch, a movie, my day was perfect.

Here's to another perfect nine years. Bring it on. I love you baby!

Happy Anniversary to ME!!!

Wow, against all odds we made it to nine years! It is late, so I won't write about what a perfect husband I have just now. But stay tuned for one heck of a story. I love my man.

See you tomorrow!

What a weekend

Sometimes it feels like the work will never be done. We have been spending the weekend cleaning out the kids' rooms, closets, the garage, etc. in our house in preparation for moving. It feels awesome to actually clean things out and feel like we are making a dent in the cleaning. It stinks as well when you look around and see all of the items we have and they have to be packed and dealt with. Overwhelming...

We are still waiting to hear back on a home in Keller that we made an offer on. It is by far my favorite, but the current owner had some unrealistic expectations which we had to negotiate on and we wait to hear. We are still planning on moving the first week of June after school lets out. It is absolutely bittersweet. I hate the idea of leaving Decatur. I love it here! But with Ben working in Fort Worth the gas is killing us. There are other issues that take too long to go into, but it will be a great move for our family at this point in time. Let's just hope we enjoy Keller as much as we have loved Decatur. I do not look forward to the traffic again. Definitely have not missed that.

We have had Chase and Austin with us this weekend as well. The kids love having their cousins come over and play. They spent the entire day out hunting for "cougars" and building a dam in Terabithea. They were filthy dirty but had loads of fun so it is hard to fault them for their mess. One thing is for certain though, I don't think that Ben will ever convince me to have more children like he wants. I am good with four. Plenty good.

I have started running again. I am pathetically out of shape. I did a 5k and it took me 50 minutes to complete. That is insane. I used to do it between 20-30 minutes. Oh well, I will get back to it. At least I am making the effort again.