Because no one would ever admit to this

Tonight I served ice cream for dessert. 

When I went to throw the ice cream scooper into the sink a small chunk of peanut butter swirl caught my eye. 

Without thinking I raised the scooper to my lips to eat the ice cream crumb.

In a flash my bottom lip was stuck to the scooper reminiscent of the flagpole in A Chistmas Story.

I tried to lick it free but ended up pulling off 7 layers of lip skin.

Kids these days

John had a friend over today and it was great.  The two of them played well together, there was very little negetive interaction with Kitty, and the time flew by. I sighed a big sigh of relief and thought, "I should do this more often."

(I should clarify that while this good friend was present for the following situation, he was in no way part of it.)

And then the new friend from around the corner rang the bell. Side note: our door has a sign that reads, Please knock, baby sleeping. So the bell rings and I see a face in doorside window peaking in. I quickly tell John that if he wants to play with new friend they have to go outside.  John answers the door and I answer a simultaneous phone call. I catch bits and pieces of new friend introducing more new, older friends. Then it gets crazy.  There are eight and ten year old boys pushing their way through my house.  One wanders downstairs, another into John's room and yet another into the kitchen. 

I hear Jared, who was downstairs, say, "Can I help you?" and the kid mumbles something but stays put.

I get off the phone and say rather loudly, "Hey!  I said you guys could play outside, I don't like kids I don't know roaming through my house!"

One of the new friends says to me, "Then get me a weapon- we're playing cops and robbers."

I say, "Where do you live?" as I show him the door.

Apparently not in our neighborhood, the two new friends are being "babysat" by original new friend's parents.

What in the world?? Why aren't parents teaching their kids manners? I am soooo sick of kids who think they can question my authority. I mean, I deal with my own kids all day, I don't need to fight with some stranger's kids too.

Just this morning Beth and I were discussing the apparent rude-friend epidemic. Here are some examples:

"Sorry John can't play now."
"Why?"
"We are eating dinner."
"How long will it take? I'll just wait."
"John won't be able to play after dinner.  Maybe another day."
"Why can't he come out after dinner?"

Or if John answers the door, before any words are exchanged, rude-friend pushes his way inside and into the house. Rude-friends often take ownership of the entire house and roam freely.  These friends often approach me and ask for something to eat.

Is it just me or do these kids seem to be getting worse? I can only hope my kids remember some semblance of manners when they are at another person's house. I hate that I have to be picky, but the list of kids who I feel comfortable letting into my children's lives is small. At least we had one good playdate today... the problem is that rude-friends like new friend seem to never take the hint.

Just another day in the life...

We've had a few wild days here at the Wright's.  It all culminated into a big chaotic mess yesterday.  It was super great. It included a literal "mental health day", a blistering diaper rash, a throat culture that involved restraints, and a new work project that I couldn't figure out.  Maybe I couldn't figure out what to do for work because when I was learning what to do I was simultaneously emailing the Principal at the school. Today seems to be better... but it isn't even 10 am yet.

Burn this picture into your brain, you will need to remember it at the end of this post when Chickie turns into Chuckie.

By the way, that cord is one of her toys.  We're all about safety.

Kitty with what seems eerily like strep, but according to the rapid strep test isn't. It was so fun to wrestle and restrain her so the nurse could get the culture.  Meanwhile John was holding a fussy, wiggly Chickie. Life is good.

Zoom out. Kitty must be sick if she can sleep through the chaos.

This is a series of photos wherein I attempted to capture Chickie's favorite face.

Chicke is now Chuckie.

I said to John, "be sure to capture the glory of our popcorn ceiling and my double chin."

News Flash! Some people irritate me.

It's not you, it's me.  And really, if you read my blog, you don't irritate me. I promise.

Finally an update on Terrance

I know everyone has been wondering how our local celebrity, Terrance is doing.  If you remember, he competed on a Karaoke show a while back. After almost a year of hoping to see him in the drive-thru of the local Good Times I heard the familiar lisp as I ordered and my heart leapt a little.  Waiting in line I saw his hands flashing out the window as he spoke with the customer in front of me and I was certain. 

When we pulled up I asked if his name was Terrance and told him I had seen him on TV.  He smiled and said, "I'm blushing, you just can't see it," and then he proceeded to tell me that he had put in his two weeks and was going to go to sound producing school in Denver.

"I'll come back to visit now and then, so you'll still see me around."

That made me feel good-- like Terrance isn't going to be out of my life forever, he'll still visit me at the Good Times drive-thru. He hasn't let his 15 minutes (seconds) go to his head, he remembers his roots.

The latest cure for video game addiction

When John was two he had a speech therapist that came to our home until she determined that a behavioral therapist would serve us better, go figure.  On her last visit she left with a word of warning, "Beware of video games. Sensory kids get sucked in." Whatever. 

Fast forward a few years to see John constantly "gaming".  He's literally afraid of being bored, so if it's not the DS, the XBox, the Computer, or the IPad, he's freaking out.  We tried an electronic game free day and it lasted maybe five hours. 

As Dr. Phil would say, video games are John's "currency". As I chased John, who was chasing the obnoxious 4 year old at the park (who actually deserved to be chased by someone twice his size) the only thing that stopped him from pounding the poor kid was my shout, "Ok, no video games!" He froze and then turned his wrath toward me. Crisis averted.

So... after years of my urging and his refusing, out of the blue he picked up his bike and began to ride.  Like anything else with this kid, he had to do it in his own time and by himself.  The next day we went and got new (bigger) bikes for John and Kitty.  Needless to say, the video games have taken a back seat to the new world of riding bikes. It helps that we had the best spring break weather--it was in the 80s all week.  Today, not so much.

Oh, and guess who is nine months old?  The second nine has gone way faster than the first nine!

Love that Chickie.