Life Lessons

A few weeks ago we picked up a very excited Aidyn from church school. They had announced that they were having a coloring contest and the winner would receive 4 tickets to go see the new VeggieTales movie. Aidyn is a self-proclaimed 'Artist' and loves to color. She was so excited about this contest and was totally convinced she would win. So she started coloring. She got about half-way done with her picture when her little brother decided to get involved in the process. He scribbled brown marker across her pristine VeggieTales picture. To say she was mad would be an understatement.

The next time we went to church we noticed there were extra pictures laying out for the contest. Perfect. Aidyn still had 3 days to color a new picture and I grabbed a copy for Nolan so he would leave hers alone. For 3 days she worked on that picture. Meticulously. She was convinced she'd win. Fearing that might not be the outcome I tried to slide in a little motherly wisdom. "You know, someone else might win. Just try your hardest." "Work hard and be proud of what you did, even if you don't win." Blah, blah, blah... Meanwhile, Nolan looked at his picture once, scribbled on it with 4 different colors and walked away. Great attention span.

We dropped both kids' pictures off that Wednesday at choir practice. Aidyn was very excited about her impending victory. Friday afternoon the phone rang, it was a call from church. Oh, thank God!

Church Lady: Hi, this is the church lady. I'm calling about the coloring contest.
Me: Oh, good!
Church Lady: We ended up just doing a drawing of all the entries so it would be fair to everyone.
Me: Oh sure, sounds fine.
Church Lady: I have good news!
Me: Awesome!
Church Lady: Nolan won!
Me: WHAT!!?!!?!!?!! (In my head 'Oh crap, this is going to be ugly.')

As I hang up the phone I am trying to figure out how to handle this one. I can lie or tell the truth. This was a tough call for me because I knew there was going to be hell to pay for the truth. Ugh! I decided the truth was the best way to go. Wish me luck....
Here is how that conversation went...

Me: That was the church lady. She was calling about the coloring contest. She said that they decided to draw the winner out of a hat instead of judging which picture was best.
A: Did I win?
Me: So the winner wasn't necessarily which picture was best, they just picked it randomly.
A: Did I win?
Me: We need to remember to be proud of how hard we worked. It doesn't matter if we win or not, just that we tried our best.
A: Did I win???
Me: Um, no. Actually, they picked out Nolan's picture. Isn't that fun, now we all get to go to the movie!
A: (tears pouring down her face, falling on the floor) WHAT?!?! How could he have won? He didn't even try, he just scribbled! I worked so hard! I was so proud of my picture! I tried my hardest! This isn't fair!!!! Sob, sob, sob...
Me: I know, blah, blah, blah, consoling for 5 minutes, blah, blah, blah...
N: I won? (stands over A who's still on the floor crying, points finger at her) I BEAT YOU!!!!!!
Me: Lord help me.

The rest of that day was a mess. Luckily, things settled down by Sunday which was the day we were going to the movie. Both kids were excited to go to the show and had a nice time. But I have to say, that is a pretty tough life lesson for a 5 year old to swallow.

I'm beginning to hate Tuesdays...

Tuesday - 2 weeks ago: Made emergency vet appointment for Bailey as she was having 'issues'. Turns out she had infected anal glands. I won't go into details but from this point on I will refer to this as Bailey's 'SA' (stinky ass). Ewwww..... So 1 hour, 40 miles, $$ worth of antibiotics and clean anal glands Bailey is on the road to recovery. I drop her off at home, make it to Pilates on time, get home and make dinner. Shortly after dinner Nolan has his kiwi spewing incident. Lovely.

Tuesday - 1 week ago: Jeff is forced to stay home from work as I am a big pile of crap suffering from the stomach flu. Ughhhh.

Tuesday - Today: Bailey has follow-up appointment for her 'SA'. Drive the 20 miles to the vet, pull into the parking lot and Aidyn says "My tummy hurts." She begins throwing up. Damn. Get her cleaned up a little, grab Bailey, leave kids in car, run Bailey in, hand her to the receptionist and say "Here's Bailey, she's here for her 'SA' re-check. My daughter is throwing up in the car, I'll be back in to get Bailey and pay in a few minutes." Run back outside. Run back inside and ask for some garbage bags. Run back outside. Console Aidyn and answer Nolan's 20 questions about throwing up. Run back inside. Bailey is with vet. I stand half in the exam room, half in the waiting room so I can see my car with my kids in it. Vet gives me the 30 second synopsis. "Bailey is better." Great, no more SA. Pay my bill, force dog into car, drive my sick child home and put her to bed. Try to convince Nolan that today would be a good day for a nap. Make jello. Update blog.

So this is the 3rd Tuesday in a row we've had the stomach flu at our house. I'm starting to wonder if maybe we shouldn't lick all the pews in church on Sunday. Jeff is the only one who has been safe so far. I'll let you know how he's doing next Tuesday.

What's new?

It's been awhile since I've posted any pictures out here. Here's a quick snapshot of what we've been up to...
Aidyn attended the princess birthday party of one of her classmates where they went to the salon and got their hair, nails & make-up done. Wow was that a hit!
Jeff tried to convince the kids that Top Gun is one of the best movies ever. Do they look sold to you? Nope, just bored.

Both kids are going to be starting gymnastics in February so Nolan has been prepping. In Aidyn's clothes. Cute.

I had the flu this week so that was not very fun, but Jeff was able to stay home and take care of things. Thank God! That's about it for our exciting lives lately.

Clarification: When Jeff saw this post his response was "I can't believe you put our son in that outfit and then put his picture on the blog." I would like to state, I did not dress Nolan, he and Aidyn took care of that. When they came downstairs, I just grabbed the camera and snapped a picture.

Random Thoughts

1. Thank you Starbucks, for coming up with an easy way to order a non-fat, sugar-free, cinnamon dolce latte. Now all I have to say is "I'll have a skinny cinnamon dolce latte." That will save me at least 3-4 seconds each time I'm at Starbucks. Very good.

2. We got Aidyn's kindergarten registration forms the other day. Aidyn beamed. I cried. (I really did.)

3. Nolan threw up for the first time last night. Instead of crying and being so upset that he was sick (like his sister is when that happens) he was so enthralled with the fact that he could see his food again. Today he's been reliving it by saying "When I throwed up, I saw my kiwi again!"

4. I don't really make New Years resolutions, but this year I want to try to use reusable bags when I go shopping in order to cut down on the number of plastic and paper bags I use. I bought some big shopping bags at Costco and used one for the first time today. I was a little worried about feeling like a dork when I used it, but the check-out lady was really nice. I said "I brought my own bag." "Great!!" she replied. Then she went on to tell me that Target is now selling reusable canvas bags and she bought some yesterday to try and start doing the same thing. Cool. It actually felt really good as I was unpacking my groceries. Now I just need to remember to put the bags back in my car so I have them for next time.

5. I'm getting tired of the writers strike. I really want to see some new episodes of The Office and Grey's Anatomy.

6. I'm kind of excited about the election this year. I have no idea who I'm going to vote for yet, but I love the fact the race is so tight within both parties. It keeps it interesting and keeps the candidates on their toes. I've been trying to figure out which candidate I align with the most by working on an online survey. It takes quite awhile to do so I just try to do a new topic each day. If you're interested in trying it out for yourself, it's at www.myelectionchoices.com .

That's all I have to say now. I'm sure I'll have more ramblings another day.

Yay Me!

I've been debating for awhile if I should post this or not, but I can't keep it to myself anymore...

I am the 2007 champion in my fantasy football league!!

I beat Jeff in the championship game, it was awesome. (Sorry honey.) There are 8 people in the league, myself & 7 guys. 7 demoralized guys.

I love it, it is so fun win!