Great News!!! Bad Weather!!!

Okay, so we made it back from Florida in one piece. My husband is still not talking to me, but all things considered, it's fine!!! The boys and I had a great time, we loved the beach and had such a relaxing time. We ate what we wanted when we wanted, and appetizers and desserts were part of each dinner. We even ate our meal in reverse at Joe's Crab Shack. We ordered dessert first, I had Key Lime Pie (YUM) and Lucas had a Cheesecake Sampler and Brody had Vanilla Ice cream with Chocolate Syrup. We then ate our main course and then finished with Cheese Sticks. The waiter thought we were crazy, but I wanted to have a fun, cool Mom moment. Nobody got burned too badly while there except Lucas. He is on doxycycline for his face and that made him sensitive to the sun, so he was pretty red one night, but was fine the next day. I always feel so bad when one of my kids gets burned on my watch. I truly did apply sunscreen, I think it has to be the meds. We drove home in the rain last Friday and got home to a chilly reception from the hubby. Things haven't thawed since, but I figure it's his loss.

I made it home in time to get my hair done by the great Mary Nelle, and she always does a great job! I just love her. She is so sweet and such a good friend. She always gives me a boost when I need it, and boy did I need it!!!

My stampin' friends got together Saturday night at Bev's. She is always such a great hostess, and my "very talented in all things" friend Winnie made the best soupand those sinful Oreo Bars. If I can figure out how, I'll post the recipe, because it was great!!!! We made some cute cards and had a great time being together.

Lucas had football Sunday, which made me ill. I hate it that they schedule football games on Sunday! It was at 5:00, so we couldn't go back to church and Lucas couldn't participate in MadFox. He really likes it, and it makes me mad that between basketball and football we can't attend church on Wednesday or Sundays. The real problem is that when my kids were younger and my friends had older kids, I really sat in judgement of them so many times, saying that you have to put church first, and what kind of example is that for your kids, etc. Well, as usual, my words have bitten me on the butt. We have football again this Sunday night after we finish with a basketball practice in the afternoon. Did I mention that my kids are busy with sports?

The great news that I eluded to in the title is that I once again passed my Lactation Consultant test!!!! I took this stinking test July 28 and they only posted the results today! I'm good for another 10 years, and hopefully by then I will be wise enough not to stress over it. You know, I do love my job, but the thought of doing this same thing in another 10 years kind of made me sad. Who knows? I would love to start my own private consulting business. I'd love to have an office in my home and have new mom's and babies come to my house and me go to theirs. I'd love to do Prenatal classes there as well, and also have them at churches and do private ones (although I don't think they would be as much fun for the parents). The problem is, I carry the
insurance for my family, so I guess for now, I'm here. I do love my job though. I can't believe they pay me for doing something I love so much. I'm very blessed to do what I love every day and find so many great people along the way.

The weather is stinking today, again with the title, and I have to go to the credit union to pilfer my pitiful account to purchase my growing boys some long pants. Lucas has shot up like a weed and thinned out like crazy and all of his pants are too big and short. Brody has just grown out (9 yr old pudge) and so he has to have his pants cut off and hemmed like crazy. I have gotten him a few pairs so far, so it won't be that bad.

Report cards come home today. Lucas and I had a discussion last night about grades. Now for any of you that are teachers that might ever read this (you might notice I have 0 followers) I hate report cards, and I hate grades. I know that you have to have some measurement of what a child knows, but I think that both of my kids get really bad test anxiety. I don't know where this comes from, because I love to take tests. I know it sounds sick, but I enjoy the challenge. Anyway, Lucas hasn't been very forthcoming about his exam grades and finally told me last night that he made a 73 on his Language Arts Exam. I think that's a D. That doesn't mean that his overall grade will be a D, but it sure doesn't help. Anyway, we got into a heated debate about whether or not I'd ever gotten a D on my reports card. This led to Lucas calling my Mom and asking her as he didn't believe that I never got a D. I was stunned (can't think of another word that's stronger that I can spell) to find out that my Mom had saved all of my report cards. Now I do save my kids, but my Mom is different. She was only 20 when she had me and divorced my sperm donor when I was 4. She was always young and hip, cool and very independent. She was the type who if I drew her a picture, I would find it in the garbage. If I picked her a flower, same fate. Now listen, she was a great Mom, just not a sentimental one. I can't believe that she saved my report cards. This really got me thinking about how my kids will remember me to thier kids. Will they recall all the practices that I sat waiting for them, all the benches that I warmed? Will they recall all the practice spelling tests that I gave and encouragement I hopefully provided just last night as Brody had to deliver his first speech ever today? I don't want to sound like a martyr certainly, and wouldn't want them to remember me that way, but I want them to remember me THERE. I want them to know that I saved their report cards (I have), I want them to know that I saved their very cutest baby clothes and books that they loved. I want them to know that they are the two most cherished loved boys who ever lived and their mother thinks they are the best thing since sliced bread. I want them to feel loved and protected from the minute they awake in the morning until they fall into bed at night. I want them to know that I was THERE AND I SAW EVERYTHING THEY DID and I WAS PROUD.