I love my birthday weekend! This year my birthday happens to fall on a Sunday so that means Veteran's Day falls on the Friday. That makes it a long weekend for everyone. This morning I got to sleep in, Chris made me breakfast and then he put himself in charge of all the kids. They had to go for him for everything and he had to answer all of their questions. It was so peaceful. I even got to read the whole paper-all in one sitting.

The kids are being great to me. I'm getting lots of hugs and kisses and Rocco keeps saying "Happy Birthday Mommy-I love you!"

Who could ask for anything more.

I am the luckiest person ever!

Today, I am thankful for the love that my husband and kids show to me everyday.

Nothing beats a box of 64

We learned today that Mia won a poster contest that was sponsored by the school bus company. Her picture was chosen from all the elementary schools to win $250 towards a field trip. She even gets a special certificate presented to her at the Board of Education meeting. We are so proud of her.

My kids are always coloring and drawing. No matter where we are if I can produce a piece of paper and some sort of writing implement they are good to go. All of the kids, including Rocco, can draw better than I can. Let's just say I peaked in kindergarten. It is nice to see them get some much enjoyment out of something so simple./ It just goes to prove that you don't have to spend a lot of money to keep kids happy and entertained. Some of the best times in my house have been when all 5 of us are gathered around the table drawing.

So today I am grateful that Mia's hard work was rewarded in a way that benefited her whole class.

Don't Tell

Shh...don't tell anyone...I got to have a whole hour by myself today and someone actually took care of me.

I know--crazy isn't it!

Want to know what I did?

I bet you do!

I got a haircut!

Shocking isn't it?

I got to go and have someone wash my hair, blow dry it, and then proceed to tell me how fabulous I looked. It was the best hour ever.

I know I had to pay this person to do it but that is besides the point.

It is not often that I get this kind of time and with three kids and a husband I do usually put myself last but once every 3-4 months I get to go and enjoy this time. I love it probably more than I should but that's o.k. Every mom out there needs to remember what it is like to do something for themselves and to not feel guilty about it.

Today I am thankful to be able to get a little time for myself.

Here come the clowns

For those of you who don't know-I am a girl scout leader to two troops. That means every week I have to come up with activities to keep approximately 20 girls happy and busy with a budget of like $1.00 a meeting. Needless to say, there are some weeks I can not come up with anything. I was just about to sit down tonight to try to pull tomorrows meeting out my butt when I get an email. It is from my friend Gina who wrote "I just came across your name and it reminded me-

What is your request for girlscouts this year?

What day and time?"

She was offering to run a meeting for me. Now this wouldn't be just any kind of meeting because Gina also goes by the name of GiGi and she just happens to be a clown. Not a 'come to your kids birthday party and make people uncomfortable' kind of clown-she was a Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey kind of clown. She is an "I own my own circus" kind of clown. When someone like that offers to do a meeting for you, you jump on it.

I emailed her back "how's tomorrow?" and she was in. She is going to teach my girls how to juggle and do plate spinning. Does it get any cooler than that? I am so excited-not only because she is coming but also because I now have my night free and can watch bad TV while I stalk people on Facebook. Yeah me!

So, today I am thankful for good friends who come through just when you need them the most.

Wanna see my poop...

Those are the exact words that Rocco said to us when he walked out of the bathroom this afternoon. It was twice as scary since he was holding something small and brown in his hand. Olivia and I looked at each other and almost passed out.

Turns out, he was holding a piece of plastic poop from the Little Pet Shop toys that Mia was playing with. Once we figured that out, Olivia and I were on the floor laughing. That was the first laugh of the afternoon.

Next came when Chris got home and Olivia asked him if he knew what "musha" was. I knew better than to fall for that question but I wasn't willing to save Chris. When he said he didn't know, Olivia asked him if he wanted to know. When he said yes, she asked "are you really sure?" and when he said "yes" again he really got it. She went and rubbed her hand all over his face and said musha musha musha. Silly daddy-never agree to anything.

Meanwhile, Mia was giving me the once over because I was working on my 80s look for my upcoming birthday party and she said to me "Mom, you've got to leave the 80s and get with it."

All these stories bring me to what I am thankful for today-children who have a great sense of humor and can not only laugh at others but at themselves too.

I shot myself once...

Since this storm hit, we have been spending a lot of time together as a family. It took an opportunity like this to be able to get to know my father better. Since he only had me and my sister around he had no choice but to talk to us and put up with us. It was a very interesting dynamic. Here is the man that hollered at us as kids and now when he said "You don't listen to me" I could honestly say "I'm an adult now and I don't have to." I was finally able to hear some of the stories about my dad when he was a kid and all the trouble he got into. This is what I learned:

He shot himself in the foot with a gun he didn't realize was loaded. He was in the woods hunting pheasants with his friends when he stooped to talk to someone. He rested the gun on his foot and accidentally pulled the trigger. When he went home to tell his mom she didn't believe him. It wasn't until she saw the blood that she took him to the doctor.

He was playing cowboys and Indians with his friends and they tied a kid to a tree in the woods and then forgot about him. He said to me- "I got my ass booted that night."

He got his hand stuck in a ringer washing machine when he tried to put a nougat cookie through it. When I asked him why he did it he said "well we didn't have those ipods and computers like you guys do."

He got thrown out of high school for destroying the body that God gave him when he got a tattoo

He spent four years in the Navy visiting countries that I can only dream of.

Now I understand when he used to say to us as kids "Don't even think about doing something cause I already did it."

I am sorry that it took a storm for us to have a chance to sit down and get to know him better but I have a feeling that from now on whenever we get a chance my sisters and I will be asking our dad a lot more questions.

So today I am thankful for all the stories my dad is finally telling us.

Hey guys wait up...

So, tonight, we finally got to go trick or treating. We are a little late here because with the snow and lack of power which meant Halloween was cancelled and postponed until tonight. That's fine though- it gave us an extra week to prepare.
The kids were so excited to go and they loved their costumes this year-we had a dinosaur, smurfette, and a hobo witch. The best part though was that their baby cousin was old enough to come trick or treating with us. He was a little lion and was absolutely adorable. Once he figured out the whole go up to the door and people give you candy thing he was off and running. He was doing such a good job of keeping up with the big kids too. When he started to fall behind-he would huff and puff just to catch up. He reminded us of the kid from "A Christmas Story"-come on guys wait up.
While the pickings were slim this Halloween we did get to see some interesting sites. The best had to be the guy that forgot his door was open and walked right by us in his boxers and wife-beater. Talk about a little peep show with your candy. We were hysterical. The haul might not have been as good but it was one of the better Halloween's that I have had.

So, today I am thankful for being able to go trick or treating with lions, dinosaurs, smurfs, and witches-Oh My!