Unlucky with puppies...and Rum!

So my Jaylan is starting a trend of having bad luck with dogs. Almost two years ago he was bit by a dog that required stitches. He and his brother and sister saw the neighbor with their dog, a really cute Jack Russell terrier, and they asked if they could pet it, (if I have done nothing else in teaching my kids, they have had it POUNDED into their brains that they always ask permission before petting someone else's dog). She said, "Oh yes, he loves kids." Well I think it was the fact that she was holding him and that 3 weird little kids were all reaching out to touch him, he freaked out and bit Jaylan on the eye. So I get a phone call at work from the neighbor apologizing, asking to take him to the hospital...etc. I said, "No, let me take him in." I get there and Jaylan is sitting on the floor holding a paper towel to his eye and petting the dog that bit him, "Hi Mom! This is PJ!" Now he goes and visits PJ every Friday. Just a freak thing, and he made friends out of it...go figure.

Then yesterday, again, he was bit by a neighbor's dog on the leg. Nothing serious this time, just a pinch. Of course he was wearing his nice new suit and I, being the great mother, asked first "Did it tear your suit?!?!" No, it didn't. But he's starting to get a complex. "I don't know what is wrong with me, Mom! Why do dogs keep biting me?" But I thought this one was funny too. Jaylan was out collecting fast offerings and the man said, "I don't have any money." THEN, after Jaylan got bit he all of a sudden was willing to open his wallet....made me laugh.

Countdown to the cruise - 6 more days!!!! The closer it gets, the more requests I have for people to bring back rum...I'm going to have to take an extra suitcase for all the rum! I should start charging and make a tidy haul for rum running, I don't drink a drop. Hey, It's in my blood, grandad was a bootlegger and great-grandad made moonshine. LOL!

Loves to you all!

pics

OK, here's Jen and Nate. Now you can see what he looks like...Ta da!

As for the rest of us...OK so does anyone else feel like this is the winter that would not end? ACK! Enough of that! No more dwelling on the weather!

Bathroom update - yes we've been remodeling the bathroom, which started last SEPTEMBER. The dry walling is all done...FINALLY! Which means I can sand and paint and then install crap and get the kids OUT OF MY BATHROOM! Ok done with that rant, which is not aimed at my children, BTW, just at their father.

No regrets

OK, so I'm looking around at all my friend's blogs and sites. Many of their posts have pictures of their little babies and toddlers and talking about nap time (hooray for naptime!) and watching Elmo and the silly things their kids do.

I enjoy everyone's babies and want to reach out and pinch their cheeks and spoil them rotten and give them everything that their parents won't let them have. They are all so cute and funny and perfect!

Would I want to do it all over again? Nope.

Granted, I started my family young. Really really young. And I had them really fast and really close together. Was it the smartest thing to do? Dunno. All I know is that while everyone else is having babies now, my baby is 8, and I really really like it that way.

I don't have to change diapers. I don't have to feed and dress them. No more hassling with car seats. I can tell them to go outside and play and know that they will look both ways before crossing the street. They don't fight with me at bedtime. They bathe and shower themselves. They even occasionally ask questions that spark an interesting conversation, "Mom, what's Socialism?"

They like scary movies, they like to help me garden and cook, they play video games with me - and win most of the time. I am having so much more fun with them now that I ever did when they were little.

I look at Jaylan now, who is 12, and I realize, "I've only got 6 years left with him. I've got a lot of playing to fit in the next 6 years."

Anyways, what is my point? Hold on to your babies, and let me hold them too, because I love them, (But I love handing them off to their Mom's when they are stinky too!) Enjoy you're time with them now, and when they are 8, and 10, and 12. I have no regrets at all for playing with them when they were babies, or enjoying them now that they are older.

I look back at my house growing up. It wasn't always the cleanest or the nicest. Nowadays my mom's house is really nice and clean and she has nice things. I look at my house now and the state of total chaos that it seems to remain in...but I remember a poem that Mom had on her wall growing up.

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

-Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Someday I'll have a nice clean house with nice things in it. But I'm not looking forward to it that much.

Nana and Granpa

Just a little note about the little ones. Katelyn has been with us this weekend. She's such a busy girl, makes me tired. She drives me nuts when she's here but I miss her when she's gone. Go figure. She'll be 3 this month, and is talking up a storm. Yesterday she ran up to me, "Nana I cold!" with her arms wrapped around her. I tried to get her to snuggle with me to warm her up, but she can't sit still for more than 5 seconds. So she jumped off my lap and ran to Dell, "Granpa I cold!" She's a fun girl.

This is Jack-Jack. He turned 1 in January, so he's much bigger now. He's already taking after his father in teasing everyone. We went to Lava Hotsprings the first weekend in April with everyone, and I got to feed Jack-Jack. What an appetite! Holy cow the little monster almost ate my finger! He says,"hi" and when he wants something he doesn't say please he says, "thank you, thank you." until he gets it. He kept poking my dog, Shay, in the eye, (because they are so facinating) and Jess would say, "Be soft!" and he would give her a hug, and then poke her in the eye again. Funny kid.

Updates -

So a few things are happening.

#1 - Jennifer is engaged. Hooray! His name is Nate, and we like him. A lot. Mucho better than he-who-shall-not-be-named-because-he-is-a-loser. And he treats Jen like a queen, which is something she has only SEEN instead of experienced (because her daddy treats me like a queen), so I'm really happy for her. He also is really good with Katelyn. Dell and I are going to a "meet the parents" night tonight for dinner, should be good. We're just waiting for her cancelation to go through and then we'll announce a wedding date. Welcome to the crazyness Nate! - I'll post pictures as soon as I get some, ahem, Jen...

#2 - Jaylan is playing the part of Jack Sparrow in the upcoming presentation of The Little Mermaid's Adventures with The Pirates of the Carribean. Should be fun. They sing and dance and act and there are pirates! What more could you want! If you are going to be in my neck of the woods on May 3rd, that's when his performance is.

#3 - Jefferson's You Tube videos - Oh yes, my crazy son is now into animation - http://www.youtube.com/user/kewldoodjefferson - you can find his animations there. Unfortunately, his microphone broke and so there have been no new additions recently. Sucks to be 10 years old and want to animate things and your Mom makes you work on a computer that is a million years old. A new microphone is in the budget, just Mom never thinks about it when she's at the store.

#4 - Weight loss count - Oh yeah, I'm losing weight...shed 12 pounds, and I am VEEEEEERY HAPPEEEEEEE!!! Mom and I are doing water aerobics every morning at 5 am. I usually finally wake up halfway through the workout, glad I haven't drowned. Probably still won't wear a bikini in Cozumel...heh heh...but its a start!

Happy Birthday Dell

Happy Birthday Dell! Not much more to say to that except that we love you. Unless you want me to publish how old you are...