Every time..she blinks...she strikes somebody blind...

I have to document 4 of the conversations that took place with Jenna* this Tuesday evening, between pick-up at 5:45 and bath time at 6:45 PM. Funny discussions are a daily occurrence, but some happen in such succession that I am forced to reflect on it.

*the referenced child is 2 ½ years old.

We are all in the car, after the hustle of pick-up, and have just set out on the freeway.

Me: (frustrated sigh)
JK: What Wrong??
Me: Nothing, baby, I’m just hungry.
JK: (in serious, amazing comfort-voice she does. think of the comfort-voice you use when something is REALLY wrong. like a bad fall.) It’s okay, Mommy. We go to gaga-papa’s and they will make you some dinner. It’ll be oootaay.
Me: Gaga isn’t even home – she’s visiting Deder.
JK: oh. I know deder!
Me: Sure. She’s Gaga’s best friend.

Silence.
I’ve been up since 4 AM on these days and have been working since 7 AM. I promise that I engage in conversations with my children – just not always on the car ride home. I am still trying to decompress.
I’m kinda glad the chatter has paused.
Radio up.
8 minutes of nothing.

JK: gaga’s UDDER best friend.
Me: what?
JK: deder be gaga’s udder best friend. Im her bestest best friend.

And the best part of these little talks is that when HER conversation is finished, she gives me a Look. This look of “and there will be nothing more mentioned about That.”

We’ve gone a few more miles down the road. Jenna is trying to open the spout of a water bottle and is yelling “Open This!” (to I assume me?) over and over.

Me: (ignoring)
At least 8 Open This!-es later…
JK: WaHooooo! I opened it myself!!!!
Me: glad you did because I wasn’t going to.
JK: why you wasn’t going to?
Me: because you forgot to say Please.
JK: (looks over at brother) Good ting I opened it myself.

And the look.

We’re on the home stretch of our 30 minutes trek home and she’s annoyed at every song on the radio.

JK: I don’t even yike ANY of dese songs!
Me: Well, what did you sing at Chapel today?
JK: (bursts into dramatic song)
Come and join our fwiends – they all weady to play! Nahnahnah nahnahnah it’s a Super Special day…
Me: Jenna. I seriously doubt that you sang the Ni Hao, Kai Lan theme song in Chapel.
JK: YES I DID! …come on Wintoo, let’s tiger tiger ROAR….
Me: You really shouldn’t tell fibs.
JK: (sigh) otay. We sing Jesus Yoves Me in Chapel today.

Silence.
Radio back up.
5 minutes later…

Me: Kate! It’s Tuesday! You didn’t even have Chapel today!
JK: oooohhh yaaaaa. I guess I just be fibbing again.

Look

We’re home. I’m sitting at the table trying to eat. Jake’s running around wild in his walker.

Me: (Gasp!) (back to eating…)
JK: What Wrong???
Me: Nothing, baby, Jakey just ran over my toe.
JK: (gets up and looks at me with an exhausted…maybe disappointed? look) Mommy. You need to be weawing shoes.
(Same disappointed look at Jacob) Jakey. That’s enough of that.
(she wheels jake out of the kitchen and into another room where I hear her say…)
You didn’t mean to hurt Mommy. You be only Zero.
(strolls back into the kitchen without Jake, goes back to her plate and glances up at me with that look)

Babyjake will be in a yittle timeout to be thinking about it.

Backyard Babies

I have a lot of friends that do so many good things, I get all proud and beaming when I hear them mentioned. Often in a very narcissistic way. Like, I must be pretty awesome if people like THIS love me. It's unhealthy.
But those are the types of friends that inspire me. And, the majority of the time, the feeling of pride is fugacious and I'm just thankful that God blessed me with such good company.

My friend Stefanie is one of those friends. She is one of those people you're just lucky to know. Ya know?
She and her husband Mike work hard, they raise awesome kids, they pull off things like huge operations taking Texas Roadhouse food overseas to feed the troops, they support their community, the chick happens to be ridiculously funny
....just all around goodness.

They submitted a video to HGTV and are in the running for a backyard makeover. The peeps behind the scenes told them that traffic to their video, comments, etc. plays a big part in who they choose.
So, because they're a couple of those friends that make me all beamy when people talk about how much they Give.....
do me a favor and watch their video.
(...and comment if you're the awesomest.)

http://my.hgtv.com/hgtvd/Yard/Moon-Rock-Makeover/detail.esi?oid=23749037


"...if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with."
(that annoying Dorothy girl)

...and we’ll all float on okay...

Bad news comes, don’t you worry even when it lands…
I feel like I’ve been surrounded by sad the last month.

People are sick, babies are sick, parents are sick, siblings are sick.

Kate’s cancer was not healed; Cooper got wings.

I lost a friendship that I’m certain was never real to begin with. But that doesn’t make me miss it any less, yet.

I’m too busy at work – there are too many babies with hearing loss. There are too many messages and too many charts. Too many responsibilities and not enough days in my work week.

I lost my phone case.

I still have ten pounds of baby weight to lose and I’m addicted to sour patch bunnies. And cinnamon gummy hearts.

I don’t sleep enough.

Good news will work it’s way to all them plans….
But I know I’m surrounded by So Much Good. I don’t take any of it for granted.

Kevin decided to accept a new job that will benefit our family in many ways.

My oldest, dearest friends came to my house for a weekend of drinking and talking (with a little dancing thrown in). Adrienne, Amy, Ann, Becky, Jess, Kari and Stef moved in and my family moved out. Leaving me with no Similac, no sippies, no Nickelodeon and no bedtime. It went fast…it took much more time for any of us to prepare for it than the actual 48 hours seem worth. But it was so worth it. It was necessary. It was food for the soul. We missed you dearly, jennifer.

I have started a new friendship – a slow-starting, surface relationship that has turned into someone I can always turn to for advice, for a laugh, for encouragement to not completely go off the deep end when my kids are at their lowest moments. (i heart you, cupcakediva)

People are healthy, babies are healthy, parents are healthy, siblings are healthy.

My dad is staying cancer-free; my friend is glowing through a healthy pregnancy.

Landon turned NINE-years-old. Nine. And is healthy and smart and sweet and athletic and wonderful.

And then there are these people….

I got stuck in writing. I wanted to blog, but knew I had skipped so many things. Do I go back? Do I just start now? Do I write all the sad? Do I pretend everything is perfect? I never came up with answers, just decided to write this morning and whatever came out of my mouth – would be what I jumped back in with.

And now I feel like the ice has broken between me and the blog.

March is a month that I’ve been looking forward to. Friends and family coming to the lake 2 of the weekends. My fabulous niece’s wedding in Fort Worth one weekend and a baby shower for my dear friends the other. My husband will be in Dallas for an entire week and San Antonio for an entire week, training for this new job. I’ll document it all…in pictures and in words…so that I can relive it all one day and smile.

We’ll all float on alright.