Blind Makeover

I really had no idea what a blind makeover was. She described it to me before she left. I had no earthly notion why you would ever allow someone else to touch your face.


Once she arrived, the picture was clear. A blind makeover is as gross as I imagined.

For The Record

Today's events. In order:

1. Twin #2 had a seizure this morning. My sister went downtown to the Children's Hospital. Twin #1 took up residence here. Because of Riley's brain condition, she is prone to seizures. Because of her heart condition, she is at a higher risk for stroke. Testing all. day. long. (She is now home and well).

2. I shuttled kids back and forth between friends.

3. My mom called to tell me she was in the emergency room. She had fallen in the driveway. She can't move her arm. Just an item of note--when Nana takes Vicodin, she is way super nice. In a really lovely way.

4. Todd sat down to dinner and told me that this afternoon he was crossing the street downtown, a gust of wind came by and blew up the skirt of the woman in front of him. She wasn't wearing any underwear. That he could tell.

Writing it all down makes it all look so, I don't know, minimal. But yet, reality is so much more exhausting. For everyone involved. All except for the woman who took a stroll downtown without being clothed like a normal person. Todd always has all the luck.

Kellie's Nose Guard

Me: "Why do you have a napkin clipped to your nose?"
Kellie: "Because the food you are cooking smells bad."

Just another added layer to my self esteem.

Yes

Hidden deep within my rational mother brain lives a subconscious, where I sometimes make secret promises to myself. Most of the time, these secrets are really only hopes. Or wishes. Recently, I've secretly had the notion that I say 'no' way too often. OK, so that's not really a secret, but more of a reality. But, the mother that I wish to be in my subconscious, randomly wants to say 'yes' more than 'no'.

So, when daughter #2 asked if we could please, please, please go to IHOP for breakfast, I said "Yes". I shocked my type A self right to the core. But then I watched these children of mine. My 'yes' brought them a giddy kind of joy. Was achieving the joy convenient? Not really. It was pouring rain and I didn't want to get my hair wet. Was the joy planned, prepared for, or grand in nature? Nope. To them, and those around us, it was just breakfast. Really, really tasty breakfast.

But yet, the joy was anything but ordinary. One simple word. A 'no' to a 'yes'. That was all it took. Can I always say 'yes'? Heavens no. But, what if I try, just every now and then, to give them something unexpected. "Mom, will you play a game with me?" Yes. "Mom, will you take us to the pool?" Yes. "Mom, can we go get a snow cone?" Yes.

How is it that such a small, three letter word can be so difficult to speak, but can bring such happiness to those we love the most? I tend not to use 'yes' very often, because it usually requires more effort on my part. It entails me doing something I really don't want to do. It's just easier to say 'no'. It just is.

But, when I step back and look at my life with my mother eyes, I realize that these 3 beautiful souls are in my life because I chose to say 'yes'. That's how I got here to begin with. That three letter word rocked my world in all ways possible. But once things settled, and I am here and now, I see the joy that 'yes' can bring. I see it in them. For they are mine.

So for now, I'll try and keep my secret 'yes' wish tucked inside my subconscious. I'll try and remember it's there. No promises. I wouldn't want to start granting so many requests that my kids actually start to believe they have a normal mother. Wouldn't that be crazy?

Yes.

Summer List #15

Glow-in-the-dark golf. Serious summer fun. I'm sure the course is not the same since we made our mark. We kind of have that special touch no matter the location.
I'm pretty sure that, as we speak, this golf course is adding a new rule. 'No Climbing On The Fake Ocean Life'.

No injuries occurred while golfing. This is quite a feat considering that all 3 of my kids had golf clubs (hand held weapons) with them at all times. We did master a few new golf techniques: kicking the ball, throwing the ball, and my favorite-walking up to the hole and dropping it in. My kids have serious skills. I'm just sayin'.

It Has Come To This

This is the month goal for July (and probably for the remaining forever). Every month I normally ask for a family consensus on our goal. Not this time. I declared this one all by my genius self.


Enough is enough. I literally can't stand one more mouth screaming, "Moooommmmm!" (followed by whining, tattle telling or arguing). They bellow my name at the store, while they play outside and in all corners of the house. So, from this moment on, anyone yelling my name will be fined.

I think I just found my new part-time job.

Feel The Banner UnFurl

My country 'tis of thee,
How sweet is this child I see.
Of thee I sing.
(I snapped this shot in between her sessions of using the flag as a whacking stick. If she were my direct offspring, I would snatch the flag away. But instead, I let her hit everyone in sight while I thought, "oh, she's sweet.")

This is the neighbor's yard and their flag that they paid for. We didn't even put one out. How American is that?
We had friends over last night for dinner and rambunctious fireworks. Tonight was a more low-key fire spectacle with the twins. At one point, a firework fell over mid-eruption and shot flaming sparks everywhere. The kids screamed and Addie's leg was singed. She immediately burst out, "I got shot!!" Tears gushed everywhere--Addie, because she was actually crying, and the other adults, because we were laughing so hard we started to sweat out our eyes. A good, American night.

Happy 4th of July. We declare our independence from all that is normal, calm and quiet. Let freedom ring.