She's Such a Girl!!

That's what I keep saying about my Janna. Girlfriend? Is a GIRLY GIRL! Through and through. And as annoying as it is, I love it! And her girlishness is really annoying.

Currently, Janna is in love with pink. I liken her to Pinkalicious...and I call her the Princess of Pink because of it. Everything must be pink. Her milk, her lemonade, her jelly, her earrings, her undies, her dresses, her silly bands, her hair accessories....everything. If it's not pink, she will grudgingly eat, drink, or wear it...but she much prefers pink over any other color.

Little Miss Pink will be 3 in a 11 days...and she has very politely demanded that her birthday should be planned around her favorite color. She has asked for a pink fishing pole, a pink dress (with a matching pink dress for her Bitty Baby, Lizzie), pink earrings, a pink backpack for school, pink crayons and paint, and 5 Abby Cadabby dolls (because Abby is PINK - and her favorite Muppet). She wants everything wrapped in pink paper (she even picked it out) and tied with pink ribbons.

She has already chosen her meals for the day - breakfast will be pancakes with pink whipped cream, pink sprinkles, strawberries and pink milk; she would like cheese quesadillas, pink jello, and pink lemonade for lunch; and for dinner she wants salami sandwiches (because, "Mom? [It's also annoying that she calls me "Mom" instead of "Mommy".] Sawami is hot pink. Wif white spwinkles in it."), pink mashed potatoes, and more pink lemonade.

Her cake? Will be....wait for it...PINK. She wants it to be "hot pink in the inside wif light pink fwosting on the outside wif pink and white spwinkles. And maybe one Pwincess on it. But only one Pwincess, Mom, because only one Pwincess wears pink - Sleepin' Booty."

Check back in a few days to see if The Princess of Pink got the pinkalicious birthday she's hoping for!

I'm Sort of Excited...

So...I'm a stay-at-home-mom. Duh. And I joined MOMS Club 4 years ago. Duh. I still think it was definitely one of the best decisions I ever made, but to be honest, I'm sort of getting tired of the whole thing. I can't stand the "drama" that's involved with the women. The "you talked about me behind me back so now I don't like you anymore" crap. Or the "you made a comment about me taking my sick kids out and about so I'm going to unfriend you on Facebook" crybaby stuff. Or the "I'm not going to be friends with you because you didn't breastfeed (or because you aren't religious...or because you like Twilight)" idiocy. It's all just so frustrating. More than frustrating, actually. That kind of bullshit is really tiresome. And when things become that tiresome, it's even worse than being simply frustrating. As a SAHM to three busy kidlets, I don't have the time, patience, energy, or ambition to try to "fix" all of the whining and hurt feelings. So...my own MOMS Club chapter (of which I am President for the third year in a row - yay)? Meh. I could take it or leave it.

But.

There is one aspect of MOMS Club that has me fairly excited - my position with the International side of MOMS Club. I've been a Primary Coordinator for about a year and a half now, and it's been really rewarding. I just got a call today letting me know that, because I am so awesome (International's words...not mine), they are promoting me to State Coordinator. Which is actually really cool. I get to help with the behind-the-scenes stuff, and it's so refreshing. My love of MOMS Club is slowly being revived, and I honestly couldn't be happier to be a part of something this great.

Prey-ing for Time

I've been reading a lot lately. A LOT. So far this year, I've read 36 books. I'm pretty impressed with myself. I'm also pretty impressed with my ability to multi-task to get all of my reading in. I cook and read. Potty and read. Fold laundry and read. Vacuum and read. Ride in the car and read (this new activity has me extremely thrilled!! For the first 31 years of my life, if I so much as thought about words, I would throw up. Thanks to Dramamine, a large bottle of Coke Zero, and a 3 Musketeers bar, I am now able to read while traveling. Awesome.). Exercise and read. If I could sleep and read, I would do it.

Currently, I'm obsessed with Lucas Davenport - the main character in John Sandford's "prey" series. I've read 6 Prey books in the last 3 weeks. Davenport (who is almost as awesome as Jack Reacher) and I are pretty much inseparable. When he isn't hiding in the shadows (or, rather, in my purse), he's sitting on my couch. Just waiting for me. In fact, that's where he is right now. I think I'll go join him.

Growing Up

My kids are growing up so fast. I know...all kids grow up fast. But lately it seems like the changes are happening reallyfast.

I think the main reason I'm suddenly noticing the physical growth is because the kids are wearing summer clothes. When they're all bundled up in layers upon layers of stuff during the cold months, I can't really get a decent fix on their size - they're all lumpy and covered. Now that shorts and tank tops are being worn...all I see are arms and legs. And believe me...the arms and legs over here are loooooooong. Gabriel and Elliott are built like their father - who is, I'm pretty sure, part gorilla. Gabriel is very lean and lanky. Elliott has legs that, as she gets older, are going to cause other girls in her class to be green with envy. Seriously. They go up to her armpits. Janna's a little more petite than her siblings, but she's still got some seriously long legs supporting a very short torso. They've each gone up a size (or 2 in Elliott's case) in the last 4 months due to the length of their extremities. Thank goodness for adjustable waist bottoms...without those, my kids' pants would constantly be around their ankles.

The kids are also growing by leaps and bounds developmentally. Gabriel is thriving in kindergarten. Well, thriving when he isn't being a turd out of boredom. But his teacher has found ways to keep him occupied when he isn't being challenged enough, and he's doing really well. He's working on addition and subtraction, and he loves it. He's also started multiplying and dividing. For no good reason. He reads constantly, and is becoming an authority on all things relating to dinosaurs. Talking to him is so much fun. He's so smart. And funny, too!

Elliott is also doing really well in school. Pre-Kindergarten has been heaven for her. She's making all kinds of new friends, and she's breaking out of her shell. She loves drawing and telling stories, and she just started reading this week. Needless to say I am insanely proud of her! Reading? Already? How freaking awesome is that?

Janna is almost a preschooler! She's signed up for the same preschool that the other kidlets went to when they were 3-ish, and she couldn't be more excited. Every day she asks if she's going to "the white school". She's starting to consistently recognize her ABCs, and she can count to 40. She knows how to spell her name and can recognize it (and the names of her siblings and friends). It's hard to believe that the Smallish Girl will be 3 in less than 2 months.

All of this growth is amazing, and it's so much fun to watch them grow and learn. I'm so proud of each kid, and though there are days when I would like to sell them on eBay, I am thrilled that they are the way they are.

Randomly Tandemly: Mommy Vacation!

Winter? Sucked. Hard. I am not a "winter girl". Yes, I know. Upstate NY is not the place to be in you're not a "winter girl". But Upstate NY is where I am...and Upstate NY is where I shall stay. Well, I'll stay until my husband decides to move us elsewhere - and ideally "elsewhere" would be PA...which is also not exactly mecca for girls who dislike winter. But I digress. The point? Being a non-winter girl, I spend a lot of my time dreaming of far off places. Places that are warm. Sunny. Bright. (Because Upstate NY? Is mostly gray-ish beige from November through April. Blah.)

So...winter was balls. Sick kids, snow, slush, dismal skies...all balls. Vacation? Would be AWESOME - and definitely not balls. My BFF Keelie and I spent lots of wasted time "chatting" (I love Facebook's IM thing. She's at work, I'm home with the kids...and we can still talk for what sometimes ends up being hours. Awesome.) talking about our "Dream Mommy Vacation": what kind of vacation would it be? Where would I go...what would I do...who (if anyone) would I take with me?

Hmmmmmm. If I let the over-exhausted Mommy part of my brain (the part that doesn't want to think about anything right now except sleep...and Robert Pattinson...possibly both together) answer, the decision would be pretty simple: somewhere warm and free...where I could sit and do nothing...for free...alone...where the alcohol flowed freely...for free...where it didn't matter if my legs weren't shaved...where snow, ear infections, and puke were somewhere far, far away. Oh, and did I mention that everything would be free? Yes. That's where I would go. And it would be heaven.

But the rationalish part of my brain (the part that is currently thinking about sleep...and Robert Pattinson...possibly both together) knows that my perfect vacation? The one that I would love to take? Would be a little different. I would still go somewhere warm...everything would still be free...I would still sit and try my hardest to do nothing...I would drink any alcohol I could find...I would not shave my legs. But I would not be alone - I would be with my kidlets and my hubby. And it would be perfect. Or something.

And in reality? That vacation? STARTS TODAY! WOOHOO!! We leave for Florida this afternoon, and I am so freakin' stoked.

The "Dream Mommy Vacation Checklist" has been checked off! See?

1) Vacation to be FREE (or mostly free): CHECK! My Dad and Step-Mom live in Florida. We're staying with them for a week.
2) Location to be warm: CHECK! Right now in Florida, the highs are in the low 80s. Sweet.
3) Sitting and doing as little as possible? CHECK! Heck...what good are grandparents if they won't watch their grandchildren?
4) Flowing booze? CHECK! My brothers and I joke that my Dad is "famous" for making drinks "Bob-sized" - the man drinks beverages out of glasses bigger than those red/blue plastic cups used for beer pong. Awesome.
5) Not having to shave? CHECK! No one will care if my legs are picky. And if they do? They can suck it.

I am so excited. In t-minus 6 hours we head out the door. And it's going to be awesome. I can't imagine planning a vacation without my kids or my husband. It just wouldn't make sense. They are my life. I may complain about them, and sure I fantasize about going away with Robert Pattinson without them, but I could never do it. If the vacation is going to be perfect, it has to include my family. "Dream Mommy Vacation"? Here I come.