I hold my handles out and say "frick or freat!"

It was halloween tonight! The kids had so much fun. Miles was Darth Vader and Claire was the Queen of Hearts. My dad made that costume for me when I was her age. It lasted a long time in storage.
The kids took a haul. Our nephew Ethan was with us too.
Surprisingly Claire was able to keep up with the older boys. She would run up to a house and say, "FRICK OR FREAT!" Then she immediately would fix her bag handles to be ready for the next house. Hilarious.

The kids hit the whole block. If you know where we live you know there are quite a few houses in our little neighborhood. They got them all. As well as hiking it to the Fire Department to get candy, glow sticks, and a tour of the fire trucks. Man did they get a lot of candy.

My sisters Cindi and Ann as well as me and my mom took the kids half way around the block and then Ryan and Tye took them the rest of the way. It was fun.

While Ryan, Tye and my dad took the first shift of handing out candy they were able to polish off 3/4 of a bottle of scotch. They were happy to take the kids the rest of the route. Must have been the libations.

All in all a great night. The weather was wonderful and the kids took quite a haul. Hopefully they will have some candy left tomorrow. I plan on "checking" it tonight, for their safety you know.

Happy Halloween!

I SO DO NOT HEART HANNAH MONTANA!!! Curses to you Miley Cyrus

At Layla's birthday last weekend she received this Hannah Montana pocket guitar. Her grandma opened it for the little kids to look at. And well you guessed it, the only one interested was my daughter.

She told me it was her guitar hero. I guess it is funny that way since I am guilty of teaching her all about the love for guitar hero. HOWEVER, it sings a Hannah Montana song. I hate it. Thankfully it was left at their house.

Oh did I mention that her lovely godmother GAVE it to her the other day. I still hate it. I looked all over for a volume switch, but there wasn't one. So I taped over the speaker with scotch tape. Still loud as hell.

We are so screwed. Ryan was just whistling the tune while doing dishes, and I can't get the damn thing out of my head. And to make matters worse, Claire loves loves loves it! She even went so far as to have her 'big' brother guard it while she went on a bike ride around the block with Ryan. Ryan wouldn't let her take it with them. Smart guy.

So we sit with Hannah Montana 'rockin' out in the living room. I mean really....shouldn't I get a small break from this tween stuff? She is only 2 for crying out loud.

Yay Fall!

Today is a beautiful fall day. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch and they got their pumpkins. Then we carved them out. Fun!!!!

Claire throwing pumpkin guts into the trees was funny. Claire holding a spoonful of pumpkin guts in Miles' face saying....."smell it" is even funnier.

Miles wanted no part in carving out the pumpkins. He said is smelt bad like stinky animals. Hmmmm......looks like he won't be a farmer anytime. I guess we can rule out zoologist too.

The kids had fun. Isn't this what late October is all about? Ah the memories.

Two awesome things

I just watched the season finale of my FAVORITE show Mad Men. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend getting it on dvd.

It is such a great show. I watch it with Ryan and the neighbor Dan. The second season just ended. I am really bummed that it won't be on again until the summer.

If you do in fact watch the show.....How much did you love it? It is an OMG moment. I just kept saying...oh my, oh no.

Yep. Great show. I won't give details if you haven't seen it and want to. I will say it is a very well written, very stylized show. It takes place in the early 60's focusing on the Advertising men of Manhattan.

I just had to say yowza! For those who actually saw the show and keep up with it, let me know what you think.

On another note, Nick and Jill just got Guitar Hero World Tour. Oh man. I was there yesterday with Jill for a while playing. I love it!

First of all it is so so fun to play new songs on the guitar. Because...well....Jill and I truly rock on the guitar. Second, singing with it is so fun. And hilarious. Jill was singing her heart out. And did really well. I sang the Joker by the Steve Miller Band and did ok. Thanks to my sister Cindi I sang one part, "I'm a joker I'm a smoker I'm a REAL LIVE joker." Ha ha. Those aren't the words but she is infamous for getting words wrong. Lastly....I suck at the drums. When I say suck I mean suck hard! I think I got like 68% on easy. I am not coordinated. Feet, hand coordination is not my forte. I will have to practice. I know Jill has been rocking out for at least a whole day so she already blows me away. BOO-URNS.

Practice makes perfect.

So two things I am promoting today....Mad Men and Guitar Hero World Tour. Get yourself some today. You won't regret either one. If you do, don't come crying to me that you're lame.
*wink wink*

Oh side note of hilarity: Cindi also sings other songs wrong. One of them is......Sublime's Santeria.

Cindi says, "I don't practice IN KOREA" Ah ha ha ha. She has tons of them. I love to hear her sing in the car. It cracks me the hell up.

I'm tired

I feel like I can't catch up. I was telling my cousin tonight, I feel a day behind.

This year has been busier then ever. With pre school 3 times a week I never get that at home day. Our weeks are pretty much set. MWF pre school. Kids up at 6:30. Home by noon. Play outside and get ready for dinner. Tuesdays are at my parents house to visit or a random playdate. Thursday is a standing playdate with the Paulsrud kids. The day may have changed year to year but we always see them once a week.

Pile on top of that, cooking, cleaning, laundry, blogging, (ha ha) thinking ahead for the kids and what they need for the next day. It gets tiring. AND Claire isn't sleeping well. She has been waking up around 4 or so every morning yelling and screaming about one thing or another.

I believe it is that time of year for kids' imagination to go wild with spooky things. Halloween. Claire woke last night yelling, "MOMMY!!!! THERE ARE SPOOKY BONES! I THINK A SKELETON!" Try waking up to that business at 3:30 am. It sucks.

But thankfully the dishes are done, the kids a bathed, clothes laid out for school tomorrow, and it is only 7pm. I am ahead of schedule. Hopefully Claire will sleep all night.

Maybe Darth Maul will get Miles in his sleep tonight but thankfully he only wants Ryan in the middle of the night. Unless he pees his bed. Then it's all mom.

Layla

Happy 8th birthday to my wonderful god daughter! I am so lucky to have you in my life!
I love you lady!

Kindergarten screen

Miles had his screening today for kindergarten. We weren't sure how it would go. He is a pretty sharp kid, but you never know.

He did awesome! He got all the possible points and even got all possible points for his extra credit. Smart kid.

We are very proud of him. So he will be officially in kindergarten next year.

A short smart Asian. Never heard of those before. Hee hee.

Social Networking Baffles Me

Many friends I have been talking to have told me they use Facebook. I never got into myspace or facebook or whatever other social networking sites are out there. But I know several friends do.

I have stayed away for two reasons.
1: I like to stay incognito on the internet if possible due to you know who and you know why.
2: I always believed those sites were for younger people.

The first reason will always be there. But after finding out many friends my age use it I began to wonder.

So a girlfriend who uses facebook a lot had given me her login. (Yes she is a good friend and really trusts me.) I browsed around for a while. This is what baffles me.

I am astounded by the amount of people you can reconnect with. I mean she has many friends we went to school with in her list. Then if you click on them, you can link to other peoples pages. I am sure you all know how this works so sorry. But what is so amazing is the people these other people are 'friends' with.

Call me a snob, that is fine, but I know for a fact that many of these folks were NOT friends with many of their facebook friends. I mean I would go so far as to say that they didn't know many of these people existed. And to be brutally honest I didn't even know a few who were linked to friends I had growing up and I graduated with all these folks. I tell you there were only 170 that graduated in my class.

Oh and most of them who barely knew each other are somehow married or related to one another all of the sudden. And they may have been from different graduating classes. So incestuous.

So my questions are these......
Is Facebook like the grown up version of friendship bracelets or friendship pins? You don't care who you received them from as long as you have the most?

Or have some of my 'friends' from high school actually grown up and realized not everyone has to be popular to be cool?

Either way, WEIRD knowing most of my friends from high school have married other friends from high school. It seems a bit odd that they have stayed so close.

I do have to say that my girlfriend who allowed me access was in fact someone who was friends with everyone. So she legitimately has her friends. Good for her.

Oh well....another thing that makes me NOT cool. What's new?

The things kids say

When Miles was 2-3 he couldn't say his th's. He had a lisp. The funniest thing he would say all the time was....
"I'm FA king!" Meaning I'm the king. Say it fast enough and well.....you get it.
So funny.

Well tonight Claire announced loudly at dinner that she can say TRUCK. And you can guess how that came out.

Ryan said..."Well there is her king".

I suppose she can get away with it for a little longer. Too bad I can't.

When you have been robbed, don't do this

I got a phone call today from my neighbor. She asked me if I just came home with the kids. I said yes. She said that my car door was open.

Yep. 2 hours after we got home, IN THE RAIN, I got that call.

This is what I get for letting Claire be a 'big girl'.

Thanks Claire.

One more for the day. IT'S AN EPIDEMIC!

I just got done watching one of my new shows. Fringe. I like it. I seem to enjoy shows like this. But after watching Fringe and Heroes this week, I have noticed a sad similarity.

SERIOUS "SMELL THE FART" ACTING! I mean really! I just hope that Lost isn't like this or I will have some real issues with the acting in my favorite shows.

It occurs to me that some of these actors must have gone to the acting school of Joey Tribiani or John Black from Days of Our Lives.

HOLLA!

I just noticed on my very favorite blog, besides friend blogs, perezhilton.com, that Katherine Heigl is adopting from Korea.

That's right! We rule!

Good news today!

I took Miles to the eye doctor today. Thankfully no surgery is needed for his 'floating' eye yet. We will revisit the notion of surgery mid winter. He also didn't need to have a new prescription for his glasses. That would have set us back minimum of 200$. Good news for us!

Then upon returning home Miles was able to play with his cousin Ethan. Cindi came to watch Claire while Miles was at the doctor. He had to have his little eyes dilated so that takes at least an hour. The kids played so well together! It was a rare luxury for them to be playing together and no fighting. 3 kids under the age of 4. Yep. Happy kids. Happy moms.

My mom called to say that she will hopefully get out of the hospital in the next few days. I guess she is getting better, but she sounds terrible at this point.

We will be purchasing a new dvd player for the car. It will be my early birthday gift from my parents. Thanks mom and dad!

And now....Ryan will be home shortly to play with the kids and I get to sit on my butt for about 30 min before I start dinner. Hopefully Miles won't snub his nose at dinner tonight. But I'm not holding my breath.

Finally. I am breathing a little easier today.

Really?!!!!!!

Today started off just fine. Wrote my happy anniversary blog. Complained a little about the week in the blog. And then just when we thought things would be good.....(you know we had our 3 bad things) we got a huge I mean HUGE medical bill in the mail.

I am livid! (I have reintroduced that word thanks to Nick.) The stupid bill was the 2nd for the stupid procedure. A stupid CT scan for my stupid ovaries. Sorry guys who read this. I mean really?! 900$ for a stupid CT scan that I didn't want in the first place. Oooooohhhhh! My hide is chapped!

Oh by the way the 900$ is to be paid out of our pockets. Who the hell has 900$ sitting around for stupid stuff like that? STUPID!

Ok done complaining about that.....

On another note, I had a girlfriend call today. It was hilarious. When I answered all I heard was, "Help, I need help". Thinking something was really wrong I felt my body crush and thought...oh crap what now?! Then she said, "I am addicted to facebook".

Now don't get me wrong. I understand social networking is all the rage, but it isn't for me. She told me she was on making her page last night for 6 hours. Ah ha ha ha ha. I think it is hilarious. I will have to see her page at some point. Jill, she wants you to be her friend.

Ok....done for today. Cross your fingers tomorrow is better.

7 Years today

Today is mine and Ryan's 7th anniversary.

This last week has been a bummer. Mom in the hospital, financial stressors, and to top it off my car was broken into Saturday night IN my driveway. Seems to have been a rash of break ins in the neighborhood as we and others lost electronics. Goodbye DVD player. Goodbye kid's favorite movie right now (Willy Wonka). And to add insult to injury, goodbye remote for DVD player that had new batteries that were 7 dollars for one! That is what pissed Ryan off the most. We are hoping our anniversary will start a fresh HAPPY burglary free week.

Thank you to my husband for being awesome! We have had some interesting years together. A few have been very stressful but we were able to make it somehow.

We have been able to raise 2 beautiful kids together and keep them happy by example. Yes we ARE beautiful and happy. *wink wink*

Thanks sweetie. I love you. And here's to avoiding the itch. You know.......the 7 year itch. hee hee.

My little boy is growing up

Recently Miles has been growing. I know this because he tells me with very subtle comments.

"Mom, my pants are getting short"

"Look, I can reach the top shelf on the tv center"

"Watch how many stairs I can jump"

Some other things are just things I notice.

He is very thoughtful of his sister. Which he hasn't been in the past. This is new. He teases her too, but laughs about it. I know this is how older brothers tease their younger sisters.

The biggest change due to 'new Miles', he is peeing standing up. I know I know....he was just too short to go standing before. And now he is tall enough to not have his business rest on the bowl. I am aware of this new learned talent for two reasons.

1. He tells me and anyone else who will listen that he is now standing to pee just like his dad. This includes his teachers. Yep....they told me the other day.

2. I had at one point banished Ryan to the downstairs bathroom. I was sick of the 99% accuracy and tired of cleaning up the other 1%. Gross? Definitely...but today while cleaning the bathroom I noticed that Miles has much less accuracy than his dad. Talent or curse? You decide.

Looks like he will now have to high tail it to the basement when he has to go.

I wish it was socially acceptable for boys to sit down when they pee. I would use way fewer Clorox wipes.

AHHHH!!!!

I am stressed to the limit. My mom is in the hospital AGAIN.

Thus begins my mad dash to dump my kids anywhere I can so I can be there with her. When she is in the hospital like this she is usually drugged and doesn't know what the hell she is talking about or who she has talked to. Someone has to be there to talk to the doctors. And if you know what hospitals are like.....the damn doctors come in all over the place. There is not a set time.

So I sit. For hours. In a smelly hospital with my sick mother. Wondering what my kids are doing. Usually Ryan can take a day off to help with the kids, but he is working and can't this week. Thankfully my in-laws have said they will watch them.

Where is my dad in this you all ask? Isn't he retired you ask? Doesn't he have zero responsibility and can sit for hours with her you ask? Yep me too!

My dad's response to things like this is to sleep. He gets stressed out and sleeps. He doesn't like to have responsibility for what is happening and just says to me, "let me know what shift I can take". Not, "I'll call you when I know something".

I guess I have entered that stage in life where I become the caretaker of my parents. I just didn't think it would be at 35.

Addendum to my eHarmony post

I hear that eHarmony doesn't like the gays. This cements it in my head that eHarmony is the devil and out to get the rest of us.

They just want pretty heterosexual folks. Dave says....."they only want pretty straight people to pro-create so that they can have more pretty heterosexual folks in the future to keep their business running". It sounds a little reminiscent of the 3rd Reich if you ask me. There was such a thing as the Aryan race. Only the ideal person, and the rest can go fuck themselves. Ahhh! Somethings just are NOT ok by me.

I know not everyone holds these same ideas about sexuality and that is fine, but really? I feel like these places could really just decide who gets with who based on things we should not be basing things on! And sadly I know several people who have used internet dating sites.

Well enough of my rant....I guess comparing eHarmony to the 3rd Reich is a tiny bit over the top. But seriously?!

*SIGH*

It is rainy today. The kids are crabby and making me crabby. I have a cold and a bad headache. This morning when talking to other moms, I found out it isn't only my kids, but there is something in the air. Burnit!

It is MEA and there is no more school the rest of the week. Oh lordy help me.

It is only Monday.

This waiting is killing me

I know you know what I am talking about. I hate it!!!!! The oh....say..... half hour before your company arrives. We are having some of Ryan's co workers and their families for dinner tonight. Korean food.

There was a lot of prep and now it is all ready. I am sitting in between that time window when everyone gets here, and everything is done. Now, because I have to cook most of this food right before we eat there isn't a whole lot of room in the fridge. So the appetizers are sitting out. Hopefully the cheese won't get gross.

The kids are "sword" fighting on the deck with kebab sticks from the grill and they keep asking when the friends will be here. I think they feel it too.

And to top it all off...one of the couples who shall remain nameless is late 90% of the time. This is mentioned all in love and affection for your tardiness.

So....I sit. Waiting. Usually Nick and Jill come over like 2 hours before anyone else. Sadly not tonight. Why can't Nick work with Ryan?

And I still sit.

Another kid free morning

Today I was able to drop the kids off at school (Claire cried a little) and meet my friends for coffee.

It was me, Jill, Christine, and Steph. We met at Caribou in White Bear Lake and just talked and laughed.

It has been quite a while since I have been able to enjoy time away from the kids and just have a good ol' fashioned sit down with girlfriends. I don't make girlfriends easily as I can be very judgmental and standoffish. And let's face it.....a lot of women are just rude tuna. But these 3 women are my friends. Some were meeting each other for the first time, but I realized throughout the morning that they are very similar.

We are in different places in our lives, but we all laugh at the same things. Not only did we laugh but we made Jill blush a few times. I love my best friend!!!!

But thank you ladies for being my friends and for being awesome!

An Ode to Brian Skog, Dan Nilan and Matt Dow

To my friends and family. Thank you thank you for being here.
When Ryan is gone I never do fear.
My kids are so happy, the house is so clean.
All because you came over and were not mean.
You played with Claire and Miles,
Even played with the Star Wars piles.
You help keep me sane.
While Ryan travels on a ......plane.

Ok ok....It is early and I am tired. But I have to say I am so lucky to have friends who care so much for me and my family. These three "men" always step it up to spend time when Ryan is out of town. They play with the kids and I have adults to talk too. Even though Matt Dow is my cousin, you are all family to me. I don't even mind feeding you all. Or kicking your ass in Guitar Hero.

Thanks tons. You are well loved by all of us.

What to do today

Well it's 4 pm, rainy and the kids are bored. I am feeling under the weather and now the kids are fighting. I guess it cures the boredom for them.

Ryan will be out of town until late late late tomorrow night. Probably home around 1 in the morning.

I canceled all our plans today as I feel like crap. Claire is fighting a little cold too.

These are the days I feel like I should be interacting and doing arts and crafts and reading to the kids. All the things GOOD stay at home moms do. But the best I can do is open the garage door and let the kids play in there.

At least I did sidewalk chalk on the garage floor. Ryan will love it.

The stuff I say

It has been brought to my attention that sometimes the things I say aren't very well understood. Basically, to clear it all up, I make up words and put them into my vernacular for fun. Example.....

Gytis- means jerk. I made up this word and several others in college with Ted Nugent's nephew.

Burnit-means Oh crap. Once again....Ted Nugent's nephew. He rocked by the way.

Ginormous- Jill and I were saying this far before main stream media jumped on board

Rude Tuna- means "nice" "way to be sassy" "whatever" Never meant to be an insult or proof of anger. Mostly I used to watch this show "Popular" and there was a girl they called Tuna. And she was rude.

Oh Mylanta- better then "oh my god!"

Flibbertygibbit- I know it isn't a new word but I use it as a swear and not an adjective.

Well.....feel free to use these words whenever you want and however you would like. They are not trademarked. YET.

My plans, now that Ryan is gone

Throw myself a pity party as I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. Thanks Claire.

Eat fast food. I hate to cook for 2 kids who eat nothing.

Whine about how tired I am.

Watch tv late into the night. I can never sleep when Ryan is away.

Fall asleep at very inappropriate times. See above.

Try not to freak out on the kids.

Complain about how the kids are freaking me out.

Try to find the webcam so the kids can talk to Ryan at his hotel.

Cry.

As you can see........I LOVE it when Ryan goes out of town. It is like a mini vacation......to hell.

Oh yeah...and Claire is sick. Hence her being up all last night.

Be ready for me to crash hard when you get home Ryan.

I'm a copycat

It seems from people's blogs that they are running down their weekends. I will do the same. Just for fun.

Friday night was spent per usual with our bff's. Good times, good food and guitar hero. Of course. I made a 54 note streak on expert playing dragonforce with Jill. She got 4 star powers. Man. I just have to keep trying. I bow down to the master. Nick just did his rockstar impersonations. I love it. It cracks me up so much. There would be pee involved if I wasn't a grown up, I know it.

Saturday I helped a friend make Korean food for her son's baptism. That was pure fun. No kids and cooking with a friend. Love that! She asked me what she could do to compensate me. I just laughed at her and said what we were doing was plenty. She treated me to a hot dog and apple cider at their neighborhood fall festival.

After that I headed home to get the family for my aunt's surprise 60th birthday party. Fun. It was a gorgeous day for it at Lake Nokomis.

Then to dinner with the Teegarden family for Ryan's belated birthday celebration. We had pizza.

Sunday was all about house work and family shopping. I got a ton done. The kids were having a blast. They love the dollar spot at Target as they know it is likely we will pick up a treat for them if they are well behaved. And they were and they got one.

Tonight just hanging out with crying kids. Claire is bawling about her dad "saying no". Nothing new.

Sadly Ryan will be out of town again this week. He will be in sunny San Diego and I will be here with 2 kids in the rain. I am sure a fun time will be had by me. Oh wait...I mean by all. Hopefully they will be ok. He hasn't traveled for a while so we will see how they handle it. Wish me luck.

Ha ha ha ha. I forgot about these!

This past summer I went to the Mn Zoo with a friend and her kids. My children just stuck their heads in all by themselves. I can't NOT laugh when I see these. I have weird kids. Just like their dad.

eHarmony

When I was watching tv today I saw a commercial for eHarmony. Now I have seen several in the series for them, but I never gave them a second thought until today.

They have a man talking about the woman of his dreams. How they never thought it would happen through an internet dating service, but after talking on the phone with the women, there were sparks instantly. And he knew.

So currently they are married (during commercial shoot I assume) and they are beautiful and happy living in some sweet New York loft. A la "When Harry Met Sally". Laughing and loving. This is to send the message that, yes you too in fact can be beautiful and find the love of your life who makes tons of money to keep you living in the lap of yuppie bliss.

Ok the problem I have with these commercials is this. Are these really people who used eHarmony or are they actors? I mean come on....most men I have met who look like these men are complete dicks. They are too busy working on their body and hair to find "the one". Especially these women who are beautiful and seem to know up from down.

Not only that, but several of the couples I have seen in the commercials seem pretty young. Well at least younger then me, and they have it together. Beautiful houses, or apartments. Seemingly great jobs to live said lifestyle, and they laugh like they don't have a debt in the world. With the exception of their debt to eHarmony for finding the love of their lives.

What I would like is to see "REAL" people who use eHarmony and who have been married from the site. I am sure some are as stated above, but I wonder how many are just regular old folks like the rest of us?

So thank you eHarmony for making me feel schleppy, ugly, and not up to par because I found my husband the old fashioned way. Drunk at a friends house.

The Force Unleashed

Yet another blog about Star Wars.

It consumes much of my day. Not only does Miles obsess over it day and night, but Ryan has taken to playing the game "The Force Unleashed", every night after bath time. I mean he plays it at least for 1 hour every night. Miles is in pure unadulterated Star Wars bliss.

Claire just strolls around in front of the tv trying not to get in the way. It is hilarious when she ducks down, but she really doesn't need to.

Right now Miles and Ryan are sitting on the floor, playing and discussing what the next maneuver should be. ARGH!!!!!!!!! I am sick to death of Star Wars. And if Ryan is any indication, Miles will NEVER grow out of it.

Thank god Claire is dancing around in her purple feathered Barbie shoes to offset the testosterone in the house.

Now if I could just send George Lucas an angry letter, all would be right in the world.

Very random thoughts for a lazy Sunday

Today started out like any other Sunday. Just lazy. And remained to be so all throughout. It was cloudy and drizzly and I stayed in pj's until about 2 pm.

I did load after load of laundry and watched a movie I DVR'd. I have been waiting to see it for sometime. Across the Universe. LOVED IT!!!!!! I think it may be one of my all time favorites. If you don't know about it...let me catch you up. Set in the 60's during the Vietnam War. All based on the music of the Beatles. Now if you know me you know I love the Beatles. I do not care for the main actress, Evan Rachel Wood. She is gross dating Marilyn Manson and whatnot, but darn it all if she can't act. It didn't hurt that the main character was beautiful and had a great voice. Jim Sturgess. British and way too young to have my patented tv crush. But.....he was very talented and it WAS an awesome movie. If you watch it and think..."what the hell?" Sorry. I like movies like this.

Then outside to rake up those damn pine needles with Ryan and the kids. Fun. I am so happy it is sweatshirt weather finally. And it seems like it will stay that way for a while. AHHHHHH!

Dinner with the neighbor. I made chili and had to portion a little for the neighbor as he is a veggie. And now I am sitting, blogging and rocking out to Rick Springfield's Jessie's girl. God I love the internet radio. The 80's station is my very favorite. I tell you....every time my girlfriend Anne is over, every 3-4 minutes we hear...."great song!" She is a product of the 80's as I am. And we love our Duran Duran and Madonna.

The kids are downstairs with Ryan watching him play The Force Unleashed. The kids love to watch him play. It is nice for me. They think they are kicking me out of the basement and getting something special. But little do they know I get kid free time and Ryan gets video game time.

Everyone wins! Yay Lazy Sunday.

Fall is here!!!!!

I love Fall. Not just for the weather, but to be completely honest.....I love the new fall season on tv.

I can just curl up on the sofa or in bed and watch all my old favorites. It's like welcoming friends into my home and catching up. Sad.....but I mean really. Who doesn't love to see their favorite shows return?

Tonight is one of the best. Thursday! Ugly Betty, The Office, ER and Grey's Anatomy.

Don't call me. I'll call you.

Done and Done

My friend from the pre school once told me that her son, who loves Star Wars, was sad that she had cut her hair.

Why you ask? Because she didn't look like Anakin Skywalker anymore. Priceless right? She definately laughed a lot about that. It is a dream of a parent, I am sure, to be compared to your kid's beloved movie or tv character. Layla, when young, told Jill I was on tv. It was Ann Curry. Thank you Layla.

I did in fact cut ALL my hair off last night with the exception of the longer sides because of my big fat round face. I like it. I do feel a little exposed. I haven't had hair this short in about 8 years. Oh well just hair.

I knew Ryan would like it. He told me he prefers short hair on me. Jill thinks it is because when Ryan and I first met I was going through the "punk" phase of my life and had really short hair. That is really sweet. Most men seem to like long hair. I am ok with either one.

But I digress. The main reason for NOT cutting my hair all this time is because I don't want to look like Suzie Wong or Dora the Explorer.

First thing out of Miles' mouth when I walked in the door? "MOM YOU LOOK LIKE DORA!!!"
Crap.

Welcome to Walmart. Can I help you?

I met my friend Deb at the mall today. Sans kids as they were in school. 2 and one half hours of bliss. Deb had her youngest with her. He is 1. We were sitting having coffee and talking about what the flibberty jibbit we are going to do when all kids are in school.

Now granted I have a good 3 more years to worry about it, but hey, I thought the same thing about Miles and he is pre screening in October for Kindergarten.

I thought about going back into Social Service. That didn't seem all that enticing. I mean it is very fulfilling work but with 2 kids and that type of work one can burn out quick and take the entire family down for the count too.

Then there is the very part time retail position. Now I did retail for years. I managed an Express all through college. NOT FUN. And the hours are bad news bears.

I guess I will be the BEST classroom mom in town. It seems like the most logical thing to do, unless we are so broke from inflation we have to move into my parents basement.

But as Deb said......"you never know, you could get the call there is another baby". I am sure Ryan would love that. I guess it may be about time. Usually when Deb says something like that to me (where she predicts something to do with kids) it happens. Darn that Deb!

It's about that time

Cindi got her hair cut today. It is super super cute! I love it. And 2 years has come and gone and I still have long mom hair.

Just wait 6 months from now I will want long hair again. I just can't win.

Why can't we be like those dolls we had when we were little? You know the ones where you cut their hair and then you pull what is left and there is long luxurious hair all over again. I would imagine the hair has to come from somewhere though. Let's not got there.

Good bye hair! Nice knowin' ya!

Ryan

Happy Birthday to you! You live in a zoo. You smell like a monkey......
AND.......you look like one too.

I love you.

Fight the Power

Tonight I was walking on the treadmill. I know I know.....but I was. Anyway I was watching the movie "Do The Right Thing" by Spike Lee.

I forgot that I LOVE this movie. I saw it in the theaters when I was in high school. Then of course I had to see "School Daze" and "Jungle Fever". Man that Spike Lee was a genius. He talked about everything. And didn't apologize for anything.

I think it helped me, a Korean in white world, to understand where people are coming from. Especially in that time of adolescence. It was a time I was hanging out with Koreans being raised by Koreans. I was able to see that prejudice was all around. They called me "white girl" cause my family was white and in essence to them I was too.

Well....I sit here thinking about it while I fight my own power of fitness. Yuck. I hate the treadmill.

Cindi

Today is my little sister's birthday. Sept 22nd. She is 27.

She has become one of my best friends. She is funny, loving and really just great to have around. I am thankful for her all the time but especially when our family needs to pull together. I thank God she is here in Mn to commiserate with me on a regular basis on anything family related. She is the one person who "gets" it.

She is a wonderful mother and step mother.

She can also drive me crazy like little sisters do. Even though she is an adult I still think of her as just that, a little sister. I think we are very alike in much of what we do and who we are. That is why she can make me nuts. But I love her.

Thanks for being such a great friend and sister. Happy Birthday! And ha ha.....I did the People Magazine Crossword before you. I don't think I have ever done it that fast, but I knew you were coming to the house soon.

LOVE YOU CINDI!

Birthday party

We celebrated Ryan's birthday a little early this year. Had a few friends over for dinner and drinks. We also played Guitar Hero. It was like a tournament with that game last night. All of us lining up to TRY to beat Jill. Poor Brian Skog.

The kids had a blast. Playing with Layla all night. And little Parker slept through a lot of monkey business. But then was up wide eyed at all the people and sounds.

Jay went out to get cheese. Ha ha. This cracked me up. He found some fancy cheese shop in Woodbury. I laughed at him and mocked him until he came back with some of the best tasting cheese ever. And man did it go well with the Lambic.

We were able to meet some new people. Chris brought a new lady around. Very nice and she said I am NOT standoffish. Me....standoffish. Sorry Sk3tch. I am letting it go.........right.......now.

Some left around 10. Others left at 11. Then there was Jay, who poor guy, was working until 2 am in the office here. Anne left without him so he drove Ryan's car home.

All in all a fun night. Ryan received a lot of alcohol for his birthday and some cigars. Lots of alcohol consumed, lots of gaming, lots of eating and A LOT of laughing.

The only casualties were sleep for our whole family, my guts from belly laughing, and Ryan's cell phone. Can't find it. And he is going to have to tell his boss, who knew he was having a party with drinks, that he lost his phone. Should be an interesting call. I told him to blame it on the kids.

Things that make me happy

~Napping ( I just did it and loved it!)
~My kids laughing with each other
~My husband waking me up in the morning with a kiss and a good morning
~My family, parents and sisters included
~My best friends
~Coffee
~Fresh laundry folded and put away
~When Ryan suggest all on his own to "get dinner"
~Having our friends over for dinner
~The Fall (season, not falling, which I do often)
~Yummy desserts
~Fancy hotels
~Finding new tv shows that other people don't know about yet, and telling them they HAVE to watch them. And they love them too.
~Making a new friend who really is fun to be with and is seemingly thankful they met me too
~I am most happy with the fact these things happen pretty often with the exception of getting dinner and hotels because we aren't made of money. ;)

Tangental thoughts on Parents and Family

As a parent I hope to God that I am doing alright. I think my parents did an ok job. Not perfect but ok. I turned out to be a nice productive member of society. I mean I haven't been in jail and I pay my taxes on time.

I was talking to Jill about parents today. What we want for our kids and how we treat them. We also talked about family. I have decided that parents set the tone for how the family is run and in turn how you treat your own kids as a parent.

Sometimes parents are able to let their kids go after a certain age and treat them like the adults they are. Sometimes there are parents who can't do that and will do whatever it takes to keep their kids "needing" them. Then there are the worst type of parents, who say they want their kids to be happy and healthy and independent, but really are sabotaging it so that the kids are miserable their whole lives. I mean for instance.....passive aggressive behavior with your ADULT kids is just wrong. It is mean and uncalled for.

I also think that when you have a parent like this growing up you do one of two things. Either you embrace that type of living with your own kids and teach them that talking behind others backs and backstabbing is ok, as long as you tell them to their faces they are loved and part of a good family. No one in this family lets it out and everyone is feeling like everyone is talking about them. Because of course this is how your family works.

Then you have the parents who won't stand for it because they hated it growing up. They are open and honest with their kids. They don't let things fester inside and then blow at the smallest strangest things. They also discuss feelings. Whether angry or not. Yelling or talking. It is getting taken care of so you do realize you are REALLY loved and part of a good family. No secrets.

Like I said.....my parents weren't perfect. But the did allow us to talk about everything. It is all out there all the time. Sometimes it throws Ryan. And it certainly throws my sister's husband Tye. But we all know where we stand. And there is no passive aggressive actions. Unless I am fighting my dad or Cindi for the People Crossword.

I know it will be over sooner then I think

Today has been a good day. I had my 2 1/2 hours alone. Claire did great at school. The kids are playing and I wonder sometimes. How long until they start fighting?

Usually they begin the day ok. Not yelling at each other yet, but then the day wears on and the yelling and lecturing and bossing around gets worse. The latter two are all Claire.

But once in a while I know my kids really love each other. Miles will make sure to grab Claire's hand in a parking lot so she is ok. Claire ALWAYS makes 2 art projects at school. One for her and one for Miles in case,"he didn't get to do one in his class".

It is the little things that they do for each other that I love to see. But then I am snapped back into reality when Miles is yelling, "No Claire that is really mine!" and Claire yells back, "No Miles you have to share with me!" then proceeds to bawl her head off. Then in complete unison I hear....."MOM!!!!"

But I suppose I should relish the times I have with the kids. They are little, but growing so fast. Before I know it they will be teenagers and I will be wishing for these days.

10 Things I LOATHE

1. Taxidermy (really it is a phobia) Don't judge
2. Bare feet. Keep em away from me
3. Whining kids
4. Uneven hanging towels in a bathroom
5. Barney, Teletubbies, Dora, Diego
6. People being late
7. All the words that make me cringe
8. A messy linen closet. Towels and sheets have to be perfectly rectangle
9. Bad spelling, bad grammar, people who complain about it but still do it (you know who you are)
10. Star Wars anything

Gaysians

Dave and Brent are over for dinner tonight. We were lamenting about the old days getting together at BOOM, a gay bar in NE Mpls. It is closed now. But we have decided to open our own bar. We'll call it.......

GAYSIANS!!!

Purely exclusive. Ryan and Brent will run the bar and kitchen. Our house drink will be the gaysian fizz with a twist. Dave and I will be in charge of the door. Door gaysias. Because you know, we know, who are the ones to let in to make that club fab-u-lous!

Thoughts?

(I know pure monkey business. But wine will do that to ya)

Asian Invasion in Duluth

It was rainy, cold and windy. But we still had a great time. We met with some friends who also have several Korean kids.

We were certainly outnumbered by kids. 6 adults to 8 kids all under the age of 5.

First we met in Canal Park to throw rocks in the lake and run the pier.

Then off to Two Harbors to walk out onto the breakwater. Super rainy and windy but so fun. The kids and the adults were all drenched. But it was cool to be 150 yards out into the lake. We also saw a "real" steam engine. The kids loved that. It pulled up and blew off some serious steam. Ryan and the kids were right there in the steam. Ryan ran for his life, kids in arm, as soon as it started. He said he remembered how on Thomas the Train it did that. Funny. Life lessons from a cartoon. Needless to say it was hilarious. Ryan and the kids were safe.

Next was Gooseberry Falls. Driving up there the kids yelled and waved their arms in what Ryan has dubbed "the Turbo Tunnels". The kids climbed rocks by the falls and sure enough Miles fell up to his neck into the water. Good thing we had pj's in the car.

Back to Duluth Canal Park for dinner at Katie and Lyle's hotel. That was great. We had the corner all to ourselves and the kids had a blast on the high bar stools.

Last a trip to the candy store by the pier. Even Ryan got candy. He did check the ingredients thoroughly and was happy to see the toffee was PHO free.

The drive home was long. The kids fell asleep around 9 and we arrived home around 11. Rain and fog all the way home. Thank god Ryan drove. I was asleep. It was the beer Deb coerced me into getting at dinner.

An exciting and fun adventurous fall trip to Duluth with the Paulsrud's and the Johnson's.
Lord save us if there are any more kids added next year. I doubt many restaurants could seat us. And after all, aside from the outdoor fun, for us grownups, it's all about the coffee and food. *wink wink*

On the way home......

We held out all hope for the kids to be asleep when we arrived home from the Dian's. It was difficult to tell. Miles was certainly awake. Singing along with the Beatles. His rendition of "When I'm 64" is too cute. But Claire, we thought was sound asleep. Quiet as a mouse with her Hello Kitty sunglasses on. Strange visual I know but really adorable and hilarious.

We were at the stoplight right by our house when all of the sudden we hear, "RED! NOW GREEN!! GO FAST!!!" Yep. She duped us.

It's 10 PM and she is still awake crying like a lunatic. And we have to get up and at em really early tomorrow for our hike in Duluth. Should be fun.
*note the sarcasm*

Just another Friday night

A great night tonight. Dinner with the Dian's. Big fat lasagna (has to be BIG and FAT) best ever! Guitar Hero, kids playing together and riding bikes. Framboise Lambic and IPA.

Isn't this was best friends are for?

Great news, Funny news

My sister in CA just got a job with the Chamber of Commerce! Yay RA!!!!

My other sister, here, was in a bad car accident a few weeks ago and just got her rental car. It is a full size conversion van with no seats but the front ones. Hee hee. Poor Cindi. Thankfully no one was hurt in the accident. But she went from a Mazda Protoge to a full on Partridge family bus. I wish I could see her drive it. Ha ha ha ha ha. Hilarious!


Thanks sisters for giving me something to cheer about and something to laugh at. Love you both!

Not my baby anymore

When do you know when your youngest isn't a baby anymore?

When she yells at her 4 year old brother,
"Don't yell at me! I am a baby!"

And knows she can get away with saying that to him. He will accept it as fact and leave her alone or apologize to her. Sneaky right?

That tells me she is no longer a baby and is 2 going on 12.

When Ryan asks her to do something she will hold up a finger and say, "hold on one minute!"
Seriously?

I was totally like her when I was a teen. And she is only 2. Yikes. Poor Ryan. He claims he will go camping every month with Miles once puberty hits her. I say that Claire and I will go shopping once that happens. More fun for me at least.

I do not heart Star Wars

Everyday begins the same here. Miles wakes up humming the song for Darth Vader. He began his Star Wars obsession a few years ago when his friend from school told him about it. His friend had almost his same level of obsession. Just ask his mom.

I mean, Star Wars has all the elements to teach a good story. Sympathy and camaraderie, good and evil, family and friends. All good life lessons. But I have to say I am sick of action figures all over the house and car. I am sick of McDonald's Star Wars bobble heads. (We must have 12 and actually I am sick of McDonald's but that is another issue). I am sick of the video games the movies and the magazines.

Not only is it the Star Wars action figures and ships and stuff, but he is totally into the Star Wars Legos. We have millions of them. Ships, planets, and characters. Donated from friends and family. Totaling at least 20 kits. All of which Ryan has had to put together. Hee hee. He also has 5 Star Wars Tee shirts. Which I faithfully wash every week.

The worst part of it all is his sister has started. She calls herself Princess Yay la. And both kids wear their bathrobes with the hoods up and pretend they are jedis. Fools running around with their respective light sabers. And to boot R2-D2 is following them beeping and screaming thanks to our friend Eric, who donated a 2 1/2 foot robotic R2-D2. Oh my lord. Anyone who knows or has even met my kids understands.

The reasons I do not heart Star Wars:

1. Crap all over the house
2. Legos all over the house and crying when they break
3. Lots of laundry
4. Eyes poked out with light sabers
5. Batteries running down on R2-D2. Which goes through batteries
like it is 2 dollar crack
6. Ryan humming Darth Vader's theme song absentmindedly this morning
7. Me doing the same damn thing without even knowing it

I thought I was part of the MTV generation

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is not apple picking or looking at the fall colors. It is watching the MTV VMA's. I can't explain it. They were celebrating their 25 anniversary this year. I am sure I have watched at least the past 20 if not all of them.

I would love to see who was matched up with who to present, what they were wearing, and enjoy the free music of the bands I loved. Who can forget Madonna rolling around the stage in 84? And I have to say I particularly enjoyed seeing Duran Duran when they were really big in the 80's and their "comeback" in the 2000's.

I just watched the most recent VMA's and I have to say......it is time to retire my addiction to them. I had no idea who most of the groups or artists were. I was actually pretty annoyed with most of the artists. They were over indulgent and had really terrible music.

This is one of those moments I say...."Holy! Am I old!"

Maybe when the kids are older I will learn to appreciate the current music. Or I will be the one who complains about that darn rock and roll being too loud. Or I could like totally gag them with a spoon by listening to only 80's music all the time. Ah the golden oldies!