WAIT!!!

I forgot to mention that my little man got his first big boy haircut yesterday. And whether anyone can tell or not, I can. I just couldn't make myself cut off the curls. He's very proud of his haircut!!

My husband is a workaholic ...

... and I'm home alone again, so why not fill you in on all the things that have made me feel NUTS in the last few days!! I've truly been out of the blogging spirit -- I don't know if it's because nothings been happening worth talking about, or if too much has been happening and I can't sift through it all, or if I'm just so tired form all that has happened (and the previously discussed 2 years of sleeping with a toddler) that I can't get it all straight in my head to put it on paper, or I guess, screen. Anyway, Tim is working his second all-nighter this week, and I can only Facebook and Myspace so much. I finished my last Reader's Digest Select Edition last night (you know, the one's that have 4 books in one). Soooo ... now I will bore you with the details of the last few days.

Let's see, the weekend was fairly uneventful. We had some much needed family time, just the 4 of us. We have so much fun now that the kids are getting older and Tim and I can actually have conversations with them. And it's a real treat when they are in good moods at the same time. So we just played around the house, caught up on house-cleaning, did laundry, cooked out, drank beer. It was great. Of course, I have to mention that, for some unknown reason, Tanner woke up Sunday night/Monday morning at 4 AM and proceeded to play in his crib until 6:15 AM. I don't really mind him talking and playing, except that he has this habit of banging on the back of the crib. It's REALLY loud. So I had to keep going in his room and telling him to be quiet so he wouldn't wake Sissy up. It was actually funny the first few times because when I walked in, he would play possum, like he was asleep. He's so funny. (OK, so I didn't think it was funny at the time ...)

This week has just been ablurofcraziness. (Yes, I said it that way on purpose.) I always start to feel this way when I've had the kids all to myself for a few weeks in a row. I'm so used to them going to Nana's or MeMaw and PePaw's house for a weekend ... I'm very blessed that way. I don't know how people do it when they don't have family around to take the ids off your hands!! Anyway, this week has been a struggle, for all of us. Snickers has been pooping on my rug in the keeping room on and off for a few days. Just when I think she's OK, she'll do it again. One morning she climbed down off the couch right after I cleaned the rug. Twice. Yes, I was thinking about calling the pound, but I decided not to when I realized the kids have been dropping grapes on the floor. I'm assuming you've all heard the scare about grapes and dogs. Yeah, so I've forgiven her for now.

Umm, what else? Oh, I was so excited when it was time for Kendall to go back to school on Tuesday. I dropped her off and Tanner and I finally had some time to ourselves. Then, when I picked Kendall up, I noticed she looked very tired. (Of course, she had been up virtually all night long, tossing and turning, crying out in her sleep, etc.) So I just brushed it off and made her lie down on the couch while Tanner napped. Then, at 4:30, she melted. Just completely fell apart. I had promised to take them swimming because the weather had cleared up, and we were there 30 minutes when Kendall looked at me with her pathetic little brown eyes and said, "Mommy, I wanna go home." So I got her home, and she wasn't even dressed before she started crying ... sobbing ... and couldn't stop. I didn't know what to do. She wanted me to sit and hold her, to rock her (mind you, she is almost as tall as me, it seems), to give her my undivided attention. And I wanted to do that. But Tim wasn't home yet, and Tanner wanted to play. This is the first time I've had to do this .. handle a sick one and a well one at the same time. Before, when Kendall was sick, Tanner was immobile, so I could put him in the swing or the bouncy seat and he was OK. And Tanner won't watch TV ... at all. So I proceeded to hold Kendall in my small lap in the recliner while Tanner jumped up and down in the other recliner next to me. I didn't realize Kendall had fallen asleep on me until Tanner ran around me and stopped very quickly, held his finger up to his lips, and said, "SSShhhhh, Mommy, Sissy sleeping." So cute! So Kendall has missed 2 days of school this week, had a fever on and off for two days, had goopy eyes and runny nose, had croupy cough at night, and had minimal sleep. And I'm trying to be patient, but I know I'm starting to wear down. On the phone with my mom this afternoon she had to remind me that Kendall doesn't feel good - it's not her fault she's acting like this. When did I lose touch with reality? When did I start thinking that a 4 year old could muster up all these crazy actions just to make Mom go nuts? So I had to sit down and reevaluate how I was handling her. I finally just had to hold her ... I carried her around the kitchen ... I held her in my lap ... I wrapped her in her towel after her bath and carried her to the bed to get dressed ... and for a little while, she was my "baby" again.
For now, she seems to be sleeping well. We'll see how it goes. I just hate to see her sick (and tanner, too, for that matter) because there's nothing I can do. I can give her Tylenol for her fever, but I can't take it away. I can giver her cough meds, but they don't really work for croup. And no matter how much I love on her, it doesn't seem to be enough to make her feel better. I hope this passes by this weekend ...for two reasons.

Reason one is the selfish one -- the kids are going to Tim's parents' for the night Saturday. Hallelujah!!
Reason two is for the kids -- I overheard Kendall and Tanner having a "conversation" in the car the other day. Kendall told Tanner, "I wish I could see MeMaw and PePaw." Tanner replied, "Yeah." Kendall then said, "I miss MeMaw and PePaw." Tanner agreed, "Yeah." (He's a boy of few words!) So I'm glad they get to go visit.

OK, I'm rambling. Where was I going with this? See what I mean? My brain is malfunctioning. Hopefully a day on the lake will get me back on track. Tim says I just need to go back to work; that I need to get away from the kids during the day. I don't think that's the answer. I cannot imagine having to teach all day, have meetings after work, come home, cook dinner, clean up, give baths, put kids to bed, grade papers/write lesson plans, AND get up with Kendall in the middle of the night!! NO WAY!! And I really do enjoy them, most of the time. It just takes a toll ... all you SAHMs know what I'm talking about.

Now that I have gone on and on, (if you're still reading, thank you) I'm going to bed. It usually takes me a while to fall asleep when Tim is not here, so I should probably get on it. It's 9:35 ... that gives me 2 hours to fall asleep before Kendall comes in. ;)

Oh, and one more thing -- did any one see the new 90210? Were you as disappointed as I was???? It's just another OC ... there can never be another Brandon Walsh ... and Shannen Dougherty looks R-O-U-G-H. OK, good night!

I'm ashamed to say it

But I have not voted in a presidential election. Ever. I am 30 years old and I have not voted once. That's horrible, I know. Especially since I was a social studies teacher for 6 years. But I registered when we moved to Cherokee County, so I'm gonna vote this time. For certain.

I wish I could say that I've been paying attention to the issues. I try to listen to all the commentary, but it gets so muddled. It's hard for me to listen to anyone talking about the war because my brother is in the Army and was injured in Iraq. I hate to think that it was in vain. It's hard for me to listen to them talk about education because I was a teacher. Not only did I have to deal with the early changes when No Child Left Behind came through, but I disagreed with a lot of what was required of teachers. What ever happened to just teaching? I hate the idea of higher taxes. I feel like all children should get free health care. GOOD free health care. I think it's a woman's right to choose. So you can see I'm a little mixed in my feelings. Does that make me an independent? I'm not sure.

I've spent the last few months watching Obama make speeches. He's impressive, no doubt. He's inspiring, for sure. Oprah loves him; all the celebrities love him. So I should too, right? The ultimate propaganda. I've also heard all the negatives about Obama. It's hard for me to vote for someone with such a small amount of experience.

I've also listened to everything being said about McCain. Yes, he's old. That just menas he has a lot of years under his belt, a lot of experiences (many in the name of our freedom), and he is very wise. He's had a lot of time to develop his feelings and his ideals. I think many of his morals mesh with mine as a family woman, a Christian, an educator, and a mother of two.

So I'm excited about the idea of change. Who will bring the greatest change? Who will make this country better than it is today? We shall see. But I know I'm voting for John McCain. What sealed the deal?

The speech I watched last night from Sarah Palin. She was truly impressive. Everything about her enthralled me. I'm excited about the fact that there could be a "young" mother of a special needs child, a wife, and a Christian in the White House. While her speech was a little more "attack dog" than I would have liked (perhaps that's what I have never liked about politics), she touched on many of the things I wanted to hear about. We'll see what happens ... I'll keep my fingers crossed. (Had to share this Piece of Flair from Facebook. It cracked me up!!)

Whirlwinds

OK, so I have to make this quick because I don't know how long Kendall is going to let me stay out of her room, and I need to brush my teeth. These last few days have a been a whirlwind, with a long weekend, weird sleeping for Tanner, Snickers pooping all over the keeping room for 2 days, Kendall coming down with "something," and now I'm single-parenting for the night. I always hate these nights. It extra-bad when Kendall is sick ... simply because I want to put her in bed with me, but if she wakes up in my room, and I have gone to Tanner's room (if he wakes up) or gone to let the dog out, she will F-R-E-A-K out. If she's not in her bed, she's worse than usual. But I sleep so much better!! A king size bed means less feet in the ribs. So, I have to decide before she wakes up with a coughing fit (again) if I want to be selfish and just hope that Tannerbug won't wake up, or if I want to suck it up and climb in bed with Kendall again. Decisions ... I'm off to brush my teeth, let the dog out (again), and settle in for, what I'm sure, will be a lonnnnnnng night.

Keep those prayers coming!!