OMG! She really is blonde!

Brooke and I took a walk today with Zoey. As we were walking we passed a dead end street with a sign "No outlet". Do you know what she asked me? You are never going to believe it. Remember now -- she is 14. A freshman in high school. Potentially going away to college in less than 4 years (I'm starting to re-think that plan). She actually asked me..."Why does that sign say no outlet? Those people have electricity, don't they?"

Yup!~ Kind of scary, isn't it. I've got a lot of work to do here to prepare her for the real world.

Where have I been?

Wow! March 17th was my last post. That is just not acceptable. I think I just had a case of the guilts (long lasting I might add) about all of the time that I was spending on the computer blogging. Maybe I thought I needed to get some chores done. Well, 7 months later, I still haven't committed to keeping my house clean or keeping up with laundry. So, I might as well get back to constructive procrastinating at the computer!

I'll get started with a cute little story that I shared with Daniel's preschool teacher this morning. I have lots of catching up to do, so I will have to tell many an old story along with the new for the next month or so.

Anyway, Daniel recently turned 5 and I had a small party for him with some friends. I asked him who from his new preschool class he wanted to invite. He said "Hunter, Connor and Michael." So, I said "How about a couple of girls" (I knew that Sara would be crushed if she knew that Daniel had had a party and not invited her). So, Sara, Krithe and Emma were added to the list. Now I don't know everyone in the class, but I know that Nicole is always friendly -- says "Hi Daniel" when he arrives and "Bye Daniel" when he leaves. So I asked "What about Nicole? Do you want to invite her to your party?" To which he responded "No way! She thinks she runs faster than me!"

So, that's it folks. The way to Daniel's heart (and birthday party) is to be humble -- and always acknowledge his obvious superiority!

You should eat cake!

Saturday at the Bat Mitzvah the boys made me chuckle -- I am amazed at how differently Kevin and Mark's brains work when it comes to certain things.

I think I mentioned that there was an ice cream sundae bar. Both boys were right there on line almost immediately when they announced that it was available -- kind of like magnets. They both created their masterpieces -- very similar, I might add, and returned to our table to eat (with love in their eyes).

Just as Kevin was putting the final spoonful of ice cream in his mouth the waiter put down a piece of cake in front of him. He looked up in despair and exclaimed "Ugh, if I had know there would be cake I might not have had the ice cream. I can't eat both." Are you kidding me? He is 11 years old, lean and mean -- and he is "weighing" (no pun intended) whether or not he should eat a piece of cake!

Mark, on the other hand, heard Kevin, looked up and noticed his own piece of cake and said "Where's my fork?" Not a second of hesitation. Never did he even entertain the possibility of not eating that cake -- regardless of the ice cream sundae he had just polished off.

Now that's my boy!

PS I did convince Kevin that he could eat the cake. I said, "There is no dinner being served at our house tonight, so you might as well eat up."

Wow! What a party!

We just got home from a Bat Mitzvah party. It was the first one I have ever been to and all I can say is "Wow!" That is one hell of a party. Kevin and Mark are both wanting to be Jewish now. Obviously their very short memories have already forgotten about the 2+ hour service that lead up to this amazing party, but...

This party was pretty incredible. Probably more impressive than most weddings I have been to. Mostly because of the amazing stuff that they had for the kids (which the adults benefitted from as well). First -- two separate cocktail hours -- one for the adult in one room and a "mocktail" hour for the kids in another room. The adults had adult food and drinks and the kids had Shirley Temples, mini weanies, pizza bagels, etc. Then, when cocktails were over we were all in one room (kids still sat at separate tables -- a bonus for a mom and dad of 4!). The kids had their own buffet for dinner and the adults had a sit down dinner. While the adults ate the kids were entertained by a DJ who had all kinds of hats, glow things, etc. for the kids, trivia games about the "Bat Mitzvah girl", line dances, etc. And the most fun of all (in my humble opinion) was the photographer who took pictures of whoever wanted and put them in fun frames for them to take home. We walked out of there with a very embarrassing number of pictures (we look like a bunch of egomaniacs we had so many pictures taken!). The kids also got amazing goodie boxes with boxer short that say "Hannah's Bat Mitzvah 3/14/09" and all kinds of other treats. There was an ice cream sundae bar, cookies and chocolates on the tables... and then cake! YIKES! My kids may never come down off the sugar high (not to mention what THAT did to my waistline!).

Anyway... do you blame the boys for wanting to be Jewish?

When I think of the price tag for that party, I, for one, am glad we are not!

What's in YOUR freezer?

A few years ago when we purchased an extra freezer for the basement I envisioned sale shopping for large quantities of meat and other frozen food, fully utilizing my Costco membership, and maybe even one of those delivery services...you know, the ones where they deliver your meats and other "staples" twice a year in bulk.

What I didn't have in mind is what I have now.

First of all, every year on the Fourth of July, my neighborhood has a parade. The parade ends at the playground around the corner from my house and culminates in some family friendly competition -- egg races, egg toss, frog jumping, turtle races (kids collect frogs and turtles from the lake), and a snowball contest. The snowball contest is ours. My boys have won every year for the last 4 years. Sometimes 1st and 2nd place. The idea is to save the largest snowball from the winter.

Well, the largest snowball from the winter lives in my downstairs freezer from January - July 4th every year and takes up ALOT of room. One whole shelf to be exact. I am quite a sport, aren't I? I remember one year when I was taking advantage of earlier mentioned food delivery service and the woman called to set up my next delivery and I had to tell her it had to wait until after the Fourth of July. She seemed confused... and then befuddled... when I told her there wasn't room in the freezer because of a large snowball. Anyway... I digress.

So, as with every other year, I have a large snowball in my freezer.

I also currently have a dead hamster in my freezer! Buddy passed away on Thursday and wasn't found until rather late in the evening. The ground was still somewhat frozen and at 10 pm Eric wasn't quite up for the task of chiseling through the hard, frozen shale that is our back yard to bury the poor little guy. So, with a forecast for warmer weather this weekend we had no choice but to wait. But what to do with Buddy in the meantime?

Then I remembered a Tastefully Simple party that I did a couple years ago at a friends house. When I went to open her freezer to get some ice the host said "Wait! Let me get it! There is a dead hamster in there." I was pretty grossed out, but she explained that he had died and that the ground was too frozen for a proper burial and they were "keeping him on ice" until spring. I spent the next two years thinking she was a wack job. Well, no more! Because if she's a wack job, then I'm a wack job -- because I have a dead hamster in my freezer. Yuck!

He'll be buried tomorrow and then I just have to sit tight until the Fourth of July. And then I will have my freezer back for its intended purpose -- at least until the first snowfall of next winter... or until another small pet meets an untimely demise.

Another pearl

Typing yesterday's post reminded me of another interesting question that Daniel posed about a year ago.

We were driving to the dentist for his check up and he was asking about what they were going to do, etc. and we were talking about teeth and how, when he gets big like Brooke, Kevin & Mark, he will lose his baby teeth and get big teeth.

His next question was: "Do I have baby eyes?"

I had to laugh out loud at that one. The thought of his small eyes falling out and his growing new bigger eyes probably had him pretty freaked out.

I explained to him that, no, our eyes just grow with us like the rest of our body and that, besides teeth, nothing falls out or off. Phew!!

But a super interesting question when you think about it. Why do our teeth fall out and not grow like everything else? Hmmmm.

Deep thinking

This afternoon while riding in the car, Daniel asked me the following question:

"Who is in charge of moving the moon and the sun?"

First, I love that he asks who is "in charge". Clearly, in our house, it is all about who is in charge.

Second, I am astounded by how much thinking goes on in that head of his. I guess there is time for thinking when you have no responsibilities and life is good like it is when you are 4 years old. Oh, to be 4 again!!!

Mark always says about Daniel, "He's so random". And he is. These pearls just come out of no where.

I love that about him.

Winter trip to the Adirondacks

Here are some pictures from our trip last weekend to the Adirondacks:

Kevin & Mark skiing

Daniel "skiing"

MomMom and Brooke cross country skiing

Snowmobiling

Brooke ice skating on the lake

A new twist to a familiar tune

Daniel came into my room yesterday morning and asked to use the bathroom. He hopped up and sat and sat and sat and sat. After about 10 minutes (I was dozing in bed) he shouted that he was done... and then proceeded to sing the word "Done" to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner! Probably a little unpatriotic or something, but VERY funny. I ignored him for a while and he just kept on belting it out. He sure is good at finding ways to amuse himself.

What made him do that?

Eric and I came home from a wake yesterday and I sat down on the sofa and looked across the room at Daniel. I couldn't figure out what was wrong at first, but then it hit me. He had drawn a second set of eyebrows on his forehead! I asked him who did that to him -- he had been at a birthday party -- and he said he had done it himself. At which point Brooke chimed in with "He didn't have them when he got home from the party." I asked him if he wanted me to wash them off and he said no. Needless to say, it was a little tough to look at him without laughing for the rest of the day (I wish I had gotten a picture, but he covered up every time I tried). He finally agreed to have them washed off at bedtime, so we are back to one set of eyebrows.

I just don't know what goes through someone's head when they are contemplating drawing a second set of eyebrows!

PS As a party favor, Daniel got a little "Cars" bag with a strap which he is calling a lunch box, but is, without a doubt, a child's version of a man purse. I am calling it his "murse" which is really making him mad!

15 years of "service"

Well, it has been a while since I posted. I think I got a little distracted with Facebook or maybe it was that my shoulder has been hurting when I am on the computer. Whatever. I am just making excuses. Regardless, I have a bit of catching up to do (which I won't do all in one day, just as the memories come to me or the mood strikes me).

My last post was about the picture that my employer wanted for their annual "State of the Firm" meeting. Well, I went to the meeting. I was told that I was getting some kind of "award" for having worked there for so long. So, I expected to get called up to receive some kind of plaque or something. And I did receive a glass do-dad that says "Sandra Ruoff - 15 Years of Service" and a $500 American Express Gift Card!

I have to admit that it is a little embarrassing to have worked 15 years -- 6 of them full-time, down in the trenches, crazy tax season hours (60+ a week), putting up with annoying and demanding clients years and the rest of them tax season only (20 hours a week), per diem, when I feel like it and they have work, get me out of my crazy house years -- and be given a $500 American Express Gift Card!

Despite my discomfort with this fact, I will happily spend said gift check! Maybe a spa day (after a long tax season of toiling away for 20 hours a week) is in order!

You need what?

I got a call yesterday from my boss at work.

I only work during tax season and maybe a couple small projects here and there, but for the rest of the year I am pretty out of touch. I check my work e-mail periodically but for the most part I am "out of the loop". Anyway, next Tuesday is the annual "State of the Firm" meeting. I usually don' t go because it happens to fall at that time of the year when I am most out of touch and I feel kind of funny showing up.

So, the conversation goes like this:

John: Are you coming to the "State of the Firm" meeting?

Me: Well, I really hadn't given it much thought.

John: I need to know because you are getting something if you are going.

Me: Getting something?

John: I think you are here 20 years now so there is an award for that.

Me: So, should I go?

John: It is up to you. There are going to be a couple of big announcements.

Me: So, if I want to be "In the know" I should go.

John: Yes.

Me: OK, I will be there.

John: Great, then we need a picture of you.

Crap! If I knew that I would have said no. The last thing I want at this "State of the Firm" meeting is to have to look at a large picture of myself on a big screen as part of a freaking slide show! And do you think I have a decent picture of myself? No! Of course not! I am 20 pounds overweight and most of the pictures with me in them also have my kids in them. And many of them were taken after I had just finished hiking up a mountain or getting out of the lake having been dragged around on a tube behind a boat!

So, this morning, before I started laundry, grocery shopping, etc., I took a shower, did my hair, make-up, put on a decent outfit, and had Mark take a couple of pictures of me. Damn near made him late for school -- it's not like the first one (or even the second one) came out decent! My little photographer managed to get one that will do.

It's not great, but hey, we were working with a tight deadline and it's the best I could do!

If I'm not crazy, I sure do look it!

I drove Mark to school this morning as I usually do. Yes, it is right down the street less than two blocks away and he should walk. Unfortuntely, we are usually running late. It is also freezing out this week (but that isn't the real reason I drive him -- I'm just trying to justify a little more). And besides, I have to go out in the car to drive Daniel to school anyway, so I might as well just drop Mark off on my way. (Yes, more excuses). Bottom line -- it is easier to just fly up the street in my car, wave to the crossing guard as we drive by, and slow down a bit in the school parking lot so that he can jump out.

Anyway, this morning, as always, we got in the car, flew up the street, waved to the crossing guard as we drove by, and I slowed down a bit in the school parking lot so that Mark could jump out. As I watched him walk down the sidewalk to the door I noticed that something just didn't look right. Jacket on? Check. Hat and gloves? Check. Lunchbox? Check. Backpack?.....Backpack?...Backback? Nope. He had left the house without his backpack!

So, I pull forward, put down the window and yell "Hey, Mark! You don't have your backpack!" Oops! Back in the car he gets. We fly back up the street, wave to the crossing guard as we drive by, into the driveway, into the house, grab the backpack, back in the car, back out the driveway, back up the street, wave to the crossing guard as we drive by, and slow down a bit in the school parking lot so that he can jump out.... this time WITH his backpack!

Then I have to drive back past the crossing guard AGAIN and wonder what she is thinking. When in reality I know what she is thinking. She is thinking "That woman is a freaking lunatic!"
(PS I skipped the wave on the 4th drive by -- it just didn't seem necessary)

An 89!!!

Well, Brooke had an Algebra test last week -- Thursday and Friday -- a 2 day test. Very scary! The last algebra test she took she got a 61. Yup, you read it right. A 61. Yes, that is an "F". And that was her 1st grade of the 2nd marking period. Yes, an "F" to start things out right on the wrong foot.

Since then I have found a tutor for her -- a high school girl who isn't going to send us into bankruptcy with her fees. I have relaxed just a bit -- I am no longer carrying on like a lunatic (well, not as much as I was before). And Brooke has studied her little butt off. I am very proud of the time and effort she has put in.

It paid off! The teacher posted the grades to the online "gradebook" today and I almost flipped when I saw an average of 70.8. Yes, I know a C- isn't that great, but knowing what I know about this teacher and how difficult she is and knowing where we started this marking period -- I was thrilled! So, I drilled down to the details of the algebra grade and there it was...an 89, a B+!!! All I have to say is.... Woo hoo!! Way to go, Brooke! There is hope!

So, what did I do next? (After I shared the good news with Brooke, of course) I e-mailed her tutor to see when she can meet with Brooke this week. We have a mid-term coming up, you know! Onward and upward!

Where does he get this stuff?

The other day I was playing Wii with Daniel. We were playing Super Mario Kart -- the driving game with the steering wheel -- very fun. Anyway, I am not that good and after a while it actually makes me a little motion sick. So, after 4 or 5 races, which I lost having fallen off a cliff too many times to count, I was done and suggested to Daniel that he play with Mark. He replied with "No way, he has mad skills. I don't want to play against him!"

Mad skills? Where the heck did he come up with that!? I think it is "big kid" terminology for being very good at something. But it was so funny coming out of his little 4-year old mouth.

It also made it crystal clear to me that the only reason Daniel prefers playing with me is that I stink and he can kick my ass!

Cleaning

My friend, Carol, and I have come up with an excellent plan for the mundane chore of house cleaning. About 2 years ago, we complained to each other that we never got the whole house cleaned at once. It just took too long. We would dust and vacuum part of the house one day, clean the kitchen and a bathroom the next day, maybe clean the other bathroom(s) another day, dust and vacuum the bedrooms another day... Long story short, by the time we got to the end of the process, the first rooms cleaned were a mess again. (In reality, I had really gotten to the point that my cleaning was pitiful at best -- I didn't do it often enough and I didn't do such a hot job when I did.)

So, we decided to do it together. Once a week we get together and clean one house. Today, for example, we are cleaning hers. I will dust and vacuum and she will clean the kitchen and the bathrooms. When we are here next week, she will dust and vacuum and I will do the kitchen and the bathrooms. (I'm sorry, but I wouldn't wish cleaning my bathrooms on my worst enemy -- I have 4 boys living in this house, three of them under the age of 12. Things get ugly in there! But that is a story for another post.)

Anyway, the best part of this arrangement is that we have lunch (or breakfast, depending on timing) together. Whoever's house is being cleaned supplies lunch. So, we clean (and chat as we go) and when we are done we enjoy lunch together. The whole thing takes about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Our houses are cleaned every other week -- the whole house -- and we get to visit and chat and eat. Brilliant!

The only down-side is that I will spend most of the afternoon cleaning and then come home to a messy, dirty house. But, next week will be my turn!

Back to school!

Would it be completely wrong for me to put the bottom of my foot on each child's butt as they head out to school tomorrow and push them out the door?

Let me just say that 12 days is a long break! It has been fun and we have been busy, but it is time to get back to a routine. I know, in a few days I will be complaining of the crazy routine, but when it is gone I miss it. And I fear that the imprint that Brooke's butt is making on the couch will become permanent and that the Wii will completely burn out! And if Kevin says "I don't know what to do" one more time I am going to scream!!!

So, not everyone was happy

I need to * a statement from my last post. I said "Everyone was happy." I meant "All of the kids were happy." Eric informed me, after reading my post, that, despite the fact that he asked for them, he didn't really want the nose hair trimmers that badly. And, he didn't get the undershirts and underwear that he asked for.

You now see what I'm dealing with when I ask him what he wants for Christmas!

(Seriously, I did get Eric some decent gifts -- a couple books, the woodworking book he asked for, an Under Armor fleece that I needed to tell him last night to put in the hamper because he had been wearing it too long, including to bed the night before!, some sweat pants and a desk organizer with a picture on it from Snapfish. His Christmas wasn't that bad! He did give me $100 limit to work with -- and you know how seriously I take those Eric-imposed limits. Although nose hair trimmers aren't as cheap as one would think. Hmm. Go figure.)