Who...Me?

I am telling ya right now, I have no idea who put the book on the cat. I mean, I'm standing here minding my own business when Mom comes out laughing asking me if I put the book on the cat. Look at this face, does it look like I would do such a thing?

Ok, ya... it was me!!! hehehe Doesn't he look silly with a book on top of him? The things I do when Mommy isn't around...

Oh Ya, Baby! I'm Walking!!!

Check me out! I'm walking now!

I have so got this walking thing down! I can walk four whole steps now. Look out, here I come!

Score Points for the Deployed Soldier!

From halfway around the world, this amazing man sends me beautiful flowers for our anniversary!

Thank you, Baby!!! You made my day!

Six Years Ago Today...

I married the man of my dreams!

After only two months of dating, if you could call it that because all we did was talk on the phone, my wonderful man drove from Savannah, GA where he was stationed to Wisconsin with a big rock in his pocket! I mean the ring, people!

Five months after that, dun-dun-da-dun... We were wed!

Now it's six years later and here I am, BY MYSELF!!! Ah... well... so is the nature of the beast! Duty calls and my man goes running and I'm left here to go out to dinner by myself. At least I have the kids to keep me company, though. So I can't feel too sorry for myself.

Here's a few of my favorite pics from that oh-so special day...

Once upon a time, a guy met a girl and she had her own little girl and he said, Sure I'll be her Daddy! And then he said, GULP! I'm going to be a Dad!

But it's all good! In November of 2004 Louisa was adopted by her Daddy and we definitely have a happy ending!

What Happened to "Mommy"?

Did you notice the point in time when your kids stopped calling you "Mommy"? Recently, I realized that the two older kids don't call me mommy anymore. When did that happen?
I would guess this is all a part of that whole growing-up thing they have to do. But let me tell you, I don't like it! I love the sound of those little voices saying, "Mommy!" Now all I get is a plain old, "Mom". I guess I should be grateful that I have three little munchkins of my own to call me anything at all. So, here's me being grateful... I miss being called Mommy!

Since I'm being so grateful, I'm also wondering where in this parent's handbook, that they mistakenly forgot to give me at the hospital (a mere oversight, I'm sure, it's probably in the mail as we speak), is it written that you will feel a very big stone in your gut as you watch your little ones grow? And that after time that stone will start to get heavier and heavier as you see your children pass through milestone after milestone knowing there is no turning back. There's also the pain in your heart that the handbook forgot to mention. The pain when you see your 5 year old skip off to kindergarten on his first day without looking back. The pain when your 8 year old tells you she doesn't need you to walk her up to ballet class anymore because she's a big girl.

My nephew is 11 now. I've been there since day one with him. Literally, I was in the delivery room when he was born. And now I see this kid, who is the same height as me and quickly growing taller (his dad is 6'4" so I don't think there is an end in sight!) When did this little boy who I used to babysit and was always so happy to see Auntie Peg grow up? I don't remember. And it seems all of a sudden to me. I see this kid all the time, but here he is, voice getting deeper, signs of facial hair showing... Where did my little Andrew go?!

Back to my kids, my husband feels blessed with his two boys and one girl. One boy to play football and baseball, one boy to wrestle and play rugby, and one girl so there's only one wedding to pay for! But to me, I see three little kids who will grow up and leave me all by myself. Sure I'll have my husband, but it's not the same!

Right now they are at the age where they like to be with me. They like to have "mom" around. I can go places with them and their friends and they aren't embarrased of me. They give me hugs and kisses all the time. I like this stage! I think we'll stay here for awhile. And I do still have a baby, so I get to drag this out awhile longer. Who knows, maybe we can talk daddy into baby number 4 and drag it out even longer!

Memoirs of a Softball Coach: There is a certain song that keeps popping up in my head...

Oh ya, it's:
We are the champions, we are the champions... no time for losers, cause we are the champions..... OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!
Yes, ladies and gents and any other blogger sorts of people, we won the tournament. We are, in fact, a first place 2nd grade girls softball team. And I am the one who coached them to victory! Sweet, sweet victory!
Especially the super sweet victory over Mrs. Pink!!! Did I say victory, I mean squashing! Like, 17-6 kind of squashing!
And since we beat her, I'll forgive the hissy fit she threw because one of my girls had cleats on eventhough her mom had already left the game (that was almost over anyway) to go home and get her tennis shoes. And I'll forgive the pig tails she was wearing eventhough she's way over 35! (Not saying that's old though!!!)

I've just gotta say, though, that I'm so proud of all my girls. They learned so much! And their improvement? Well, it was like night and day between the first practice 14 weeks ago and the final game on Sautrday! I couldn't believe it was the same girls! The same girls I was complaining about 14 weeks ago who couldn't even hold a bat correctly and by Saturday they walked right up to that plate with confidence, swung and hit the ball!
Everyone of them hit that ball so well. Louisa struck out once and I think one other girl struck out once and besides that they all hit, and hit WELL, I might add!

Great job girls, I'm so proud of you all! And eventhough I'm moving I hope to coach another team next year. This was fun!

Memiors of a Softball Coach: oh... just... whatever....

Ok, we totally blew it tonight. First game of the tournament and the team that we consistantly beat time and time again, beat the heck out of us! How? These girls, who couldn't hit a ball all season, were hitting every single ball that was pitched to them. And here I am screaming to my girls in the outfield at the top of my lungs telling them which base to throw the ball to and do they listen? There was two outs, one more out and we could come in and be up to bat. Could they get that last out? NO!!! The opposing team scored 14 runs before we finally got the last out. 14 runs!!!! Now we're up to bat, how are we going to get 15 runs to win the game? We can't. It's near impossible!
I was so nervous and stressed when they were in the outfield. How hard is it to get one out when they've been doing it consistantly all season? One out!!! I was pacing, biting my nails, playing with Hunter's toys, jumping up and down and swearing. Yes, I was swearing at a little girls' softball game! Most of the parents thought it was funny more than anything. And I, innocent little me (he he), pretended that it "slipped out" and, "Oh my goodness I NEVER swear!" If my husband were reading this he'd say, WHAT? She swears worse than a drunken sailor!!! She swears worse than an army infantryman! And he should know since he is one!
Well, buck up there, Buckeroos, cause on Saturday you get to play against Mrs. Pink! Yeah and joy and excitement and..... all of that.... stuff..... If we beat her, we have one more game to take it ALL!!!! And if we lose against her, well, then, I just move quietly out of town and change my name. I will NOT lose against... her!
But really, this is all about fun. There's no real competition here.....
YA RIGHT!!!!!

Drew-isms: Part 1

Sometimes my 5 year old Drew says these things that just CRACK ME UP!!!!! So I started writing them down for no other purpose than to post them here and hopefully humiliate him someday with the knowledge that all of his embarassing childhood mistakes were posted on the internet! So, without further ado.... Drew-isms:

1) While listening to the Alan Jackson song "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" on the radio:
"I love this Jimmy Muffin guy!"

2) "Mom, I have a date tonight"
Me: Ok, with who?
"Well, you KNOW I have a girlfriend"
Me: Yes, I know. Where are you taking her on your date?
"Mom (rolls eyes) ALL girls want to go to Chucky Cheese when they go on dates! Don't you know that?"

3) Refering to the nose picking incident (please see: Did You Know That You Can't Pick Your Nose In Class? ) Drew said "Mom, I wish you could come talk to my (summer school) teacher."
Me: Why?
"Because then you could ask her if I was really the one picking my nose. Cause it wasn't me! It really was Zurich!"
(Still placing the blame on someone else! LOL!!)

4) Drew told me he had picked names for his children. He has one boy name and one girl name. The girl's name will be Beautiful Rainbow, and the boy's name will be Rockstar Andrew. When I asked why he picked Rockstar Andrew, he replied that it was because then his son could be a rockstar, or any other job he wantd would go good with that name, too. Then Drew asked me if he should change it to Andrew Rockstar instead. I told him whatever he wanted. So, sorry grandson, your name will be Rockstar Andrew! But at least your sister Beautiful Rainbow will be equally as humilated because with our last name she'll be a Beautiful Rainbow Brott! (anyone hungry for sausages?)

The End of Hunter Using the Telephone

Sometimes, late at night when I'm sitting here at my computer checking Club Mom message boards or writing my book that I'll probably never get published, I let Hunter play with the telephone. He pushes numbers and the phone lights up, he laughs and pushes more numbers. It's all in good fun.
So I sit here at 1:30 a.m., playing on the computer while Hunter plays with his phone making calls to "da".
The door bell rings. Why, at 1:30 in the morning would my doorbell ring?
My worst fear in the world is that some day a man dressed in his military blues with chaplain at his side will ring my doorbell. To which, I've told my husband, I will immediately slam the door in his face. For those who don't know, when a soldier is killed in action (or any other way) the family is notified in person by the highest commanding officer that can make the trip as well as a chaplain.
So here I sit, at 1:30 in the morning mid-type, replying to a post that someone sent me on the message board I moderate at Club Mom, with the doorbell ringing for now the third time. My hands are completely frozen, my heart is racing faster than it has ever raced in my life, and images of my dear wonderful husband flash before my eyes.
Finally I get up the courage to walk to the call button and ask who it is. City PD, is the answer. City PD? Did I run a red light and not stop when someone tried to pull me over? Did I hit someone's car in a parking lot and then leave without giving them my info? Why is City PD at my door at 1:30 in the morning?
So I answer the door and he calmly said he was responding to a 911 call. 911? Who called 911 for me?
Ding! **lightbulb going on** Hunter was playing with the phone!
So I explained and he told me it was perfectly fine, an understandable mistake. Very nice about the whole thing. Then... it happens... I start to cry!
I try very hard not to let myself cry over how much I miss my husband, but this was scary. The whole thing, all the awful thoughts I had, scary!
So right there in front of the very nice police officer, I cry. Months of tension flowing out of me in one of the most embarassing ways possible. Then, of course, I had to explain to him my situation. I said how sorry I was for blubbering on so, my husband is deployed and when you get a person ringing your doorbell at 1:30 a.m., it could only mean one thing.
Thank God that this time, it was something totally unexpected.
I know one thing for sure, Hunter can't play with the telephone any more!

Did You Know That You Can't Pick Your Nose In Class?

Apparently, there is an actual rule that you cannot pick your nose in class. Or, at least not in Drew's summer school class. When I asked him if he was the culprit he sheepishly smiled and said, "No, um.... I think it was...... Zurich!" Okay! I know that devilish little grin well. Probably means, Yup! It was me!

As I picked Drew up from summer school this morning I watched how he interacted with the other kids. I noticed something strange that all the preschool age kids seemed to be doing. They would walk up to someone and say HI, and then make an obvious statement about what they were doing. For example, a little boy said to Drew, "Hi Andrew!", to which Drew replied, "Hi! I'm eating my necklace!" (made from yarn and froot loops). So he said HI, then stated the obvious. I watched a little longer and noticed that most of the kids had this same type of interaction with each other.
Now I wonder what it would be like if adults talked that way. You're walking the dog and you see your neighbor in the front yard weeding the flower bed. You say, "Hi, Sue! I'm walking the dog!" and then Sue says, "Hi, Jill, I'm weeding the flowers!" (as if it's not obvious)
Next neighbor, "Hi, Sally, I'm walking the dog!" to which Sally replies, "Hi, Jill, I'm washing the car!" (again, totally obvious)
You keep on walking down the street and come upon your less desirable neighbor, the one you hope sells her house really soon! "Hi, Donna, I'm walking the dog!" she replies, "Hi, Jill, I just got done boinking your husband!" (ok, in this case, not really obvious, but at least you know and you're not kept in the dark anymore!)
So, this is what our lives would be like if we talked like a preschooler.
And don't forget, no picking your nose in class! At least, don't get caught!!!

Here's Your Sign!

Famous comedian Bill Engvall, who helped start the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, has a saying that's become a common response to people who do stupid things: Here's Your Sign!
Well, that was me today. If anyone had actually seen me, they would have said, Here's Your Sign! Luckily I was there to see me, so I said it to myself.
I was driving along in my stupid little mini-van that I feel absolutely uncool in (why is it that my husband gets a truck AND and Harley and I get a damned mini-van that's not even a cool color??!!!) Nothing in this world sucks out your coolness and youth like a mini-van does. Anyway, back to my story.
I was eating crackers that were pretty crummy, so I decided to open the window and shake my hand off. That's when it happened. My stupidity took over!
Instead of pulling my hand back in BEFORE I rolled up the window, I just rolled the window up with my arm still sticking out.
Here's Your Sign!
Then, instead of rolling DOWN the window, I pushed the up button again.
Here's Your Sign!
And again, instead of pushing the down button to roll the window down and get my hand unstuck from this extremely painful trap, I hit the UP button, causing much more pain. Several more times.
Here's Your Sign!
Finally, I stopped the car (or stupid ugly mini-van) in the middle of the road, paused for a second and actually had to think of how to roll down that window, while my arm was being painfully crushed. I got my head clear and rolled the window down, pulled my hand in, and immediately started laughing!

HERE'S MY SIGN!!!!!

Will Daddy Recognize Me?

My husband is worried that he won't recognize the baby when he gets back from his deployment.

So what does everyone think? This was the baby when daddy left:

And this is the baby now:

Think daddy has anything to worry about? It's only been since February, that's not that long! I am pretty sure that daddy is just joking with us, but who knows, maybe he'll come home looking different (he has lost more than 30 pounds!) and we'll all look different (I've gained some of that!) and we just won't know eachother when he gets off the plane.

My daughter got all teary when I told her that daddy would look different because he had lost so much weight. She looked up at me and said, "But I love daddy's chubby cheeks!" Daddy assures us that he still has his cubby cheeks, but I don't know, 30 pounds came from somewhere.

Either way, we'll still love him. We just want him home safe and sound!

God Bless all of our troops!

Scary...

My best friend just found out that her mom has cancer. Not dying, just diagnosed. They believe they caught it early enough. I never thought to ask what kind of cancer. I was just worried about her as I read her email where she was freaking out. Something hereditary, she said. So even more cause for alarm.
How do you deal with this? What do you say, what do you do? Of course, I sent her my prayers and love. But what next? She will worry about her mom, and in a small way, herself, for a long time now. I care for my friend, she's my best friend, but what can I do from 1200 miles away?
Well, for starters I can post her here in my blog and ask for prayers! Then, I can treasure every day I have with my own kids.
Life is all too fragile, and I've been the bitter witness to that. With my sister in law who passed away in November 2004, we saw the passing of a life in an instant. She fell over dead at work with no warning whatsoever. Now THAT is tragic, and has left us with nothing but heartache and trouble since then!
Three of the four grandparents I grew up with are gone. Two of them were sick for many many years and we welcomed the fact that they finally got relief from the pain. One was taken when we weren't ready to let her go yet. Not to mention other friends and relatives, so I've seen death and celebrated lives.
That leaves me with the age old question, How do we make best of the time we have here? Many people live that day to day grind where you have a million and one things to fit in besides going to work. And the rest of us who don't, still live in in a chaotic mess that doesn't have an end or give us much breathing room.
Sometimes you have to figure out small ways to make your time here feel important. Tell everyone you love them every time you see them. Smile, often, no matter what! Let people take pictures of you. When you're gone, it's all they will have. Write letters, take time out for those you care about. A little note every now and then will make someone's day more than you know. Spoil your kids with hugs and kisses. Be the first to say you're sorry, like my Australian friend Anna says, be the grown up!
Just live! Go out, have fun, but remember who is most important in your life.
If you couldn't tell, I think about this stuff a lot. With all my ailments and illnesses, I can never be too careful. I would love people to look back someday and say, She spent all her time with her kids, she lived for them. Isn't that wonderful?!

**Edit: My friend's mom has breast cancer, and they start talking about treatment this week. It was caught early enough that everything should be fine!
CLICK THE BREAST CANCER WEBSITE LINK TO HELP DONATE FREE MAMOGRAMS TO NEEDY WOMEN!
And say a prayer! Thanks!

Retraction

Ok, it has been brought to my attention that being "40ish" is not old! So I am printing (or posting) a retraction for all of my 40 something (and up) readers. (All one of you!!!)
I'll admit, being 40ish really isn't that old, but if you saw this loser at the Nickelback concert, you'd understand my annoyance with him and his generation. It seemed the people that surrounded us that were about his age ruled the area. I was definitely in the minority being only 20 something. (Being 20 something at a Nickelback concert should not be that much of a rarity!) Not only did they rule the area, but they seemed to think that they could stand on the bleachers in front of women who are only 5 foot 3 inches, so that even IF we stood on the bleacher, we still wouldn't see, when I know every song from every CD by heart and they only know a few songs off the radio!!! I didn't pay almost $50 to stare at a white guy's ass all night. Especially an ugly, dorky, has absolutely no clue in the world what a geek he is, white guy!
So there, that was my retraction. 40ish is not old, but the guy was still a complete dill-head!

Something Just Occured to Me...

I am supposed to be packing for a trip up north to my inlaws, but am I? NOPE!!! Queen of Procrastination here! Very proud of that title, thank you very much!
So as I half heartedly begin packing, a thought occurs to me. Yes, a thought! I do get them once in awhile! When this thought jumped in to my head I, of course, immediately ran to the computer to write it down! Hunter is sitting next to me, eating cookies off the floor for breakfast. Hey, do I know how to let my kids have fun or what?!!
So, back to this thought. Whenever I go visit my inlaws, there is always the inevitable conversation of my sister in law. She has turned her back on the family and doesn't really seem to care who she hurt by doing it. Now, it's really got to make you think, what did this family to do to her that was so wrong that she would turn her back on everyone and not look back?
Then my big thought, how do I keep my kids from doing that to me? How do I ensure that my children will always want to come back home? How do I cement in their heads that anything is fixable and turning away from the entire family is just plain wrong? Nothing is so bad that a few sincere "I'm sorry's", and some beer can't make all better.
My love for my kids is beyond explanation and anyone who has kids knows what I'm talking about. What happens if one of those kids hates you enough to never want to see you again? Why am I putting in all this time and energy raising them just so they can throw it all back in my face someday?
All these questions keep circulating in my head and I don't know the answer and I don't know how to make them stop. The one thing I do know is that I teach my kids to be friends as well as siblings. I let them know they can come to me to talk about anything. I try to be loving and open so that they always feel comfortable around me. The kids and I talk about everything from their school day to more important issues like just exactly how Drake and Josh are related.
So, as the baby sits next to me screaming his head off, and I keep telling him to can it, I'll leave with this big thought. I don't know the answers to my questions, but I'm pretty sure if I keep doing what I'm doing, we'll be fine!
**And note to sister in law: What goes around, ALWAYS comes around!

Nickelback rocked!!! Oh, and so did those other bands...

Ok, these are not my photos from the concert last night, I got them off the Nickelback webpage and not even sure if I'm supposed to do that, but hey, it's all in good fun!
So, I was at this little concert last night. No big deal. Someone called Nickelback and then a few little bands that opened called 3 Days Grace and Hoobastank!!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was SO excited. I think I screamed the ENTIRE time! I danced, I sang and then.... a really tall guy stood on the bleacher in front of me and that was the end of it. I could kinda see around him if I contorted my body a little. Why am I such a wuss when it comes to confronting people. Why couldn't I just say, Hey Buddy! Get down I can't see!!!
So here's my list of really weird things that happened last night:

1) Guy in front of me, really ugly, really old (like 40ish), who only knew a few of the band's songs that they play all the time on the radio, has to get really drunk and stand on the bleacher so that I couldn't see the band. WHY WHY WHY do I attract the wacko drunks?! Everywhere I go, ball games, festivals, everywhere. They are drawn to me. Yes, dude, we all love the "I love your pants around your feet...." song, but you are SO not getting laid any time soon, so give it up!

2) I have been to many a rock concert, but never have I seen such a mix of people except for at the Rolling Stones. How do old people even know who Nickelback is? Isn't this, like, young people music? And why did I get stuck in the old people section where everyone just stands there and doesn't know what devil horns are when Chad asks us to throw them up in the air?

3) And the number one, can't be beat oddity of the night was the pig head. Yes, I said pig head, as in, a guy walking around with a real pig head, EATING it! At first I thought it was one of those whole chickens. But nope... it was indeed the head of a pig and he was eating it. He actually even had a date! Why would any woman subject herself to being seen with a guy gnawing on a pig snout? When we saw him later in the night it was picked clean so that he was proudly brandishing a pig skull! He SO did NOT get laid last night!!!!!

momtopia

I wanted to post this when I first read it, but I didn't have time, so now I do, so here it is!
This is a single mom from Australia who has a blog called momtopia, and I really liked this post a lot called, Single Mum Hissy Fit
Check out her other stuff while you're there. She likes to highlight famous single moms, and adds in a few hotties now and then!

Can Dogs Read, Mommy?

We were driving in the car today when Louisa suddenly felt sad about a doggy that we had to say goodbye to in March. He was getting to be too much of a handful for me by myself and we were moving into an apartment where we couldn't have more than two pets. I'm not giving up my cats, so the dog had to go.
Louisa was the closest to him. She cried and cried and cried and cried.... But luckily for me, my husband is the one who found the dog a new home and she can never stay mad at her daddy for too long.
Now, as we were discussing the dog today, she came up with a great idea. Let's have a Pet Day, like Father's Day or Mother's Day. So we started to brainstorm all the things we would do on this Pet Day. Like celebrate the pets we have, but also remember the ones that we don't have.
From the back seat, Drew chimes in, "Well, don't dogs read? We can send Strider a letter to tell him we miss him." Drew in his infinite questioning of everything imaginable, was absolutely serious. I told him no, dogs do not read. Then, in all seriousness, he relpies, "But they are big kids and big kids can read."
So, dogs, who are big kids, should be able to read. That makes perfect sense!
We're busily planning our Pet Day, Louisa gets to plan the menu and make decorations. Drew is going to help pick out gifts for the cats. I have no doubt it will be a day to remember!

I'm On a Mission!

Once in awhile something comes along and you just want to do everything you can to help. Well, this is my way of helping Sydnie. I have a little Stat Counter at the bottom of my blog that I can check to see how many hits I've had. In the past few days I've had hundreds of hits. Well, that is a lot for my humble little site! But I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who logged on and told someone else about it. Through word of mouth, Sydnie's picture and story are getting out there.

Sydnie's hair is starting fall out from her treatment. Her father and brothers have all shaved their heads for her to help her feel better! She's being very brave!
The rummage sale at my mom's work is a huge success! But we all know it's not going to be enough. How wonderful to have SO many people rally around when someone is in need.
So thank you to everyone at Kindred Hospital in Milwaukee for volunteering and supporting Sydnie's family.

Your continued support and prayers are appreciated, and keep telling people about Sydnie.