March?!

Wow, February sure went by quickly. We've been so busy the past week or so. Xander spent more time out of school due to weather, I think one whole day and maybe two 2-hour delays. My bible study has also been cancelled the past two weeks ~ last week for snow and then this week because the power went out during a thunderstorm and the sump pump broke, so the restrooms were out of order.

Jason's parents came to visit on Sunday afternoon and the kids were able to con them out of some money. They were both pretty excited to get a five dollar bill, they're used to only having singles. That money, on top of allowance and three visits from the tooth fairy made Xander a very rich little boy. Yes, I said THREE visits from the tooth fairy. He's had this one tooth on the top that has been loose for almost six months now, and he wouldn't let anyone pull it. It's made for some serious battles where tooth-brushing is concerned. Two other teeth ended up coming out first, and the other one had been hanging on so long that the adult tooth is already sticking out. He currently has an adorable lisp.

One of Xander's teeth fell out on Saturday while we were at an old friend's for dinner. I used to always look at my mom's wedding album and ask why I didn't know anyone who was in her wedding. I thought, if these people were that close to you that you would have them in your wedding, why don't you still talk to them any more? And now I understand, as our dinner host was one of those friends for me. I've known her since first grade, we were in each other's weddings, and then life plus a few miscommunications on both sides occurred, and here we are. Currently we live less than 10 minutes from each other and we had a nice time reconnecting, so I'm hopeful we will do a better job at keeping in touch.

On Tuesday the kids and I went to Red Lobster for dinner with my mom and step-dad. We needed to get together on that specific day and, unfortunately, Jason had to work so he wasn't able to join us. My dinner came with dessert though, so I gave him half. The kids were crazy-hyper after we ate and my attempt at taking them to Whole Foods with me was futile. They were running laps around some cases of wine in the meat department and then when I was looking at some chicken I heard Xander shout

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"Everybody dance now!" and he had a whole chicken standing up on its legs and was dancing it around the meat case. The song he was singing was what we used one year in high school for drill team tryouts, but he heard it from Shrek the Halls and now I will just never think of it the same way again.

At bed time I asked Jordis why she was acting up throughout the course of the evening and she said, "I was mad at Xander because he woke me up today when I was trying to get my booty sleep." On Wednesday she had her first gymnastics and hip hop class. She was easily the smallest one there by about 6 inches, but she jumped right in and had a smile on her face the whole time. She's been practicing her stand-ups (hand stands) ever since.

I now have a cold and am glad that this week is coming to a close soon. Hoping to rest up over the weekend and prepare a little Mardi Gras shindig for us since Fat Tuesday is right around the corner. Have a great weekend!

Don't look, Mom!

I've wanted a tattoo since about 1993, when I skipped class in college one day to accompany my dorm-mate to the tattoo parlor off of Vine St. in the university district of Cincinnati. However, I've always been averse to needles and blood, so I wrote it off as something I would never have the courage to do. It has become a joke actually. Just going into a tattoo shop with Jason over the years has made me sick to my stomach, and I've had to retreat to the outside world that doesn't smell like rubbing alcohol and has no whirring of tattoo guns.

In 2001 my friend Jen and I went to Jason's hometown for Mardi Gras and told our co-workers we were going to get tattoos while we were gone. It was just so darned unfortunate though that we showed up when they were closed.

Over the past year or so we started selling off the kids' baby items and outgrown clothing and I've been stashing the cash.

(I'm not telling you where because then I'll need to come up with a new location).

I've been telling Jason it's my Tattoo Fund, and then we laugh, because we both know that'll be the day. But we went on vacation, and I always said if I had the opportunity to get a tattoo from Randy's (the place pictured in the photo above) that I'd do it. I always thought I'd want my tattoo on my lower back, but I decided if I was going to go through the trauma I may as well put it where people will see it. And then, on the last available day we had, we were at the store and I said to Jason "today is the day," because I knew I wouldn't do it at home. It was now or never. I decided where I wanted to put it and Jason got his mom to babysit so he could take me to the shop as soon as it opened. I still wasn't sure what it was going to be when I got there, but it came to me in a moment of clarity so we drew it up and got to work before I changed my mind.

I knew it wasn't going to go well, but I wasn't quite expecting to be leaning over the trash can within the first few minutes. A nice break, cold rag, some Sprite and smelling salts got me to the point of continuing, and after awhile I was all good with the outline. At one point I had considered just leaving the outline, but I knew if I got up I'd be upset that I didn't get it filled in. I figured since I was used to it by this point that the rest would be a piece of cake.

WRONG!

The shading was much worse than the outline. Quite frankly, I would have rather had an epidural. I ended up taking a break long enough that my tattoo guy had time to eat dinner. But when all was said and done I LOVED it!

It's my tribute to being Cajun by marriage, but in Ohio State colors. The kids' names are on it, as well as 717 which is our anniversary and also Jason's unit number. I was so excited when we left, I couldn't wait to go to our family cookout and show it off. I was even feeling so much better that I pigged out, especially enjoying a venison/jalapeno appetizer and cousin Shannon's amazing brownies and bread pudding.

I called my mom to share the news, and let's just say she was not pleased. Yeah, we'll just stick with that. But I guess that's how mom's feel sometimes.

After tipping the tattoo guy extra for putting up with my "difficulty," we still had enough money left for Jason to go get a matching tattoo the next day. Instead of Ohio State colors though, he got his shaded yellow and purple in a tiger stripe pattern for LSU. For some reason my mom doesn't seem to be upset about his 4th tattoo. Where's the love?


Typically when we go out of town we try to get a Christmas ornament from the places we visit. But I was thinking we could start a new tradition of getting tattoos instead. We're going out of town this weekend.....ha, ha, I'm so funny.

Ugh, sick

I started a new blog post the other day but haven't been able to finish it. Xander came home from school with a note that said a child in his class had strep, and not 30 minutes later Jason got up and said his throat hurt. He went to work, but came home two hours in, then spent almost 18 hours in bed. Straight. I actually went up and put my hand under his nose at one point to see if he was breathing, kind of like you do when your baby has slept longer than usual. Don't lie, all of you with kids have done that. At least with the first-born.

Yesterday, after I'd come down with it, my Superman claimed an almost-victory of his illness. He mastered new skills on the Wii Fit, took care of the kids for me the rest of the day, and went to work.

Currently, he's here....

The little marroon sign is hard to see, but yes, it's our closest urgent care. Close, by the way, is an understatement. We don't even have one in our own city. We have a hospital, and lots of physicians who are not taking new patients in one of the fastest growing counties in the country, but no urgent care. No, you're not sensing any frustration from me. Never.

Anyway, he tried to get me to go along since we have the same symptoms, however I've had sore throats way worse than this before, and I also don't want to drag the kids with us because that would be. so. BAD. Plus they say (don't you always wonder who "they" are?) you're more likely to get sick at the doctor's office, so the rest of us are staying home. I'm going to wait and see what he has before I subject myself to any doctor visits.

At any rate, I think the wireless card in my laptop may be broken yet again, for the second time in the past two years. So my computer may be out of commission and I'll be relegated to using Jason's upon his permission, which probably means maybe no blogging for awhile. After he reads this blog though, my guess is that chances of computer sharing will probably be nada.

Muah, love you hottie!

Unbridled Laughter

So not much is going on around here this week. The fridge is fixed and we have groceries, so that's nice. I have a cold which shouldn't be a shock to anyone who talks to me on a regular basis. April is the only month so far this year where I haven't been sick, so it was to be expected. The hiatus couldn't last forever.

The past few days have been pretty nice so we've been taking a nightly walk. The path that runs along our subdivision has a little hill and Xander's new thing is to quit pedaling and coast down the hill, laughing all the way. It's the cutest thing, especially when he turns to see if we're watching and almost always crashes. We decided that little laugh won't last forever, so today Jason went ahead a bit so he could tape him on his jaunt down the path.




That wasn't Xan's only fun today. Our neighbors went away for a few days so we're checking on their new puppy for them. Xander went with me both times I checked on him today but little Tango just wouldn't be still long enough for me to get a good picture of the two of them together. He's such a cute little guy, a coton de tulear, and I don't think he even weighs 10 pounds. Xander likes to get the dog to chase him but then he gets mad when he actually does it.



Jordis isn't as easily amused. She had her one-year follow-up today to check on the tubes in her ears. The one in her left ear has fallen out but the doctor said he's not concerned about it unless she gets fluid in there. So hopefully she'll be good where that's concerned.

This is about as much fun as she could muster for tonight's photo taking. She's not quite the poser that Xander is. Last night there were eight tiny ducks in the pond and I think she assumed we got her out of the stroller to look at ducks again, so I'm sure she was a little ticked that we threw her down by the tree and tried to get her to smile. She's not one to oblige to our requests for congeniality anyway, so as long as she sat still I was okay. Can't be too choosey when it comes to her.