I normally discuss the antics of my girls but today I thought I would just say a few words about a man who influenced many people in the world, including me. Michael Jackson was an artist. I am not one to get too sappy over the death of someone famous but he was a genius when it came to entertaining. I remember watching him on MTV back in the days when they aired only videos and I was captivated and inspired. I wanted to sing like him, dance like him, and perform like him. I remember getting the Thriller album back when an album was an album and you needed a record player to enjoy the music. I believe BAD was the first tape cassette I ever got and I still have it. Today as I download more of his music off of a CD and onto my Ipod, I watched my girls dance about to sounds that I once danced too as a child. They were enjoying the music just as much as I did when I was their age and it's music with lyrics that I'm not afraid of them hearing. Michael Jackson and his music was a part of my life growing up and now a part of me feels empty. His music will live on by those who continue to play it for their kids and the future generations to come.
"Like a sunset, dying with the rising of the moon......gone too soon."
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
The New Adventures of Fluffy, Snuggle, and Mr. Ted E Bear
So today was like any ordinary day. Got up, had some coffee, fed the girls breakfast, and decided we needed to go to the store for a few things. Now the night before Cocoa was very adamant about mommy taking Mr. Ted E Bear with her to bed. She's known for awhile now that I have had that bear for a very long time and that he lost his right eye in the snow in Minnesota. I'm not sure why she wanted me to take the bear but then she asked for Fluffy. My other trusty bear that has been with me for almost just as long as Mr. Ted E Bear. She also lost her left eye at some point. Apparently I was really rough with my teddy bears eyes. Anyways, she said she couldn't go to sleep without her. She asked about a bear patch of fur on Fluffy's head. I told her that I loved Fluffy so much and gave her lots of hugs, that her fur just got very worn.
So the next morning as I'm down stairs enjoying my cup of coffee, Cocoa wakes up and stumbles down the stairs with Blue, her big blue bunny that Lola and Lolo sent her. She gives it a hug and then leaves only to return with Mr. Ted E Bear. Of course all of this just makes me smile. As we get ready to go to the store, Cocoa says, "Wait. I need Snuggle." She comes back with Fluffy and Snuggle (Snuggle happens my sister's bear. She got it the same time I got Fluffy.) Sweet Pea gets to hold Snuggle in the car while Cocoa has Fluffy and Mr. Ted E Bear. We get to the store and the girls want to bring the animals with them. Here I am thinking, "My children will look silly carrying these ratty old teddy bears missing their eyes into the store." So I told them that they wanted to stay with the car and protect it. They of course didn't buy that excuse and all the bears came along. So there we are in Target, Cocoa in the seat of the shopping cart with Mr. Ted E Bear on one side of her and Fluffy on the other while Sweet Pea trots along side the cart with Snuggle safely in her grasp. I smiled the entire time we were in the store. I didn't care about the looks they got and trust me they got some looks.
When we got home it was nap time and Sweet Pea had Fluffy and Snuggle and Cocoa only had Mr. Ted E Bear. Cocoa was sad and said she couldn't go to sleep without Fluffy. So I went and got her and Sweet Pea was alright sleeping with just Snuggle. It just made me smile again. I started to think of the Velveteen Rabbit and how it became "real". My girls have given Fluffy, Snuggle, and Mr. Ted E Bear a second life of new adventures. Hopefully no one else looses an eye.
So the next morning as I'm down stairs enjoying my cup of coffee, Cocoa wakes up and stumbles down the stairs with Blue, her big blue bunny that Lola and Lolo sent her. She gives it a hug and then leaves only to return with Mr. Ted E Bear. Of course all of this just makes me smile. As we get ready to go to the store, Cocoa says, "Wait. I need Snuggle." She comes back with Fluffy and Snuggle (Snuggle happens my sister's bear. She got it the same time I got Fluffy.) Sweet Pea gets to hold Snuggle in the car while Cocoa has Fluffy and Mr. Ted E Bear. We get to the store and the girls want to bring the animals with them. Here I am thinking, "My children will look silly carrying these ratty old teddy bears missing their eyes into the store." So I told them that they wanted to stay with the car and protect it. They of course didn't buy that excuse and all the bears came along. So there we are in Target, Cocoa in the seat of the shopping cart with Mr. Ted E Bear on one side of her and Fluffy on the other while Sweet Pea trots along side the cart with Snuggle safely in her grasp. I smiled the entire time we were in the store. I didn't care about the looks they got and trust me they got some looks.
When we got home it was nap time and Sweet Pea had Fluffy and Snuggle and Cocoa only had Mr. Ted E Bear. Cocoa was sad and said she couldn't go to sleep without Fluffy. So I went and got her and Sweet Pea was alright sleeping with just Snuggle. It just made me smile again. I started to think of the Velveteen Rabbit and how it became "real". My girls have given Fluffy, Snuggle, and Mr. Ted E Bear a second life of new adventures. Hopefully no one else looses an eye.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Where did the time go?
Well before I knew it Halloween rolled by, Thanksgiving was a blur, Christmas was over and the New Year had begun. Where did time go? Once I started working part time at night, it seemed as though time speed up and I never got a chance to catch up with it. Halloween was fun. Sweet Pea was Princess Jasmine and Cocoa was Snow White. Lola came to visit us during that time and the girls and my husband ate very well. Since I started working, my husband had taken over dinner duty five nights out of the week. So thank you to Lola for all the wonderful food. We miss your cooking (and my husband misses the steak). I now know that even though I may cook the food the same, it's just not the same when mom makes it.
For Thanksgiving we stayed home instead of making our annual pilgrimage to my in-laws. So I was in charge of cooking as of course I knew I would be. I made turkey, stuffing (cooked in the bird), mashed potatoes, corn, gravy (didn't turn out as well as it could have) and rolls (from scratch I might add). After all was said and done, I got a 97% just like mom's approval rating. I informed his mother of my approval rating and she said, "I never got an approval rating like that." I've watched and helped her cook for the last several years so you'd think I would know what to do by now. I did have a hard time though. There's that point when the turkey is done the potatoes need to be mashed, corn heated up and rolls put in the oven when the kids where complaining and I was getting grumpy. But we got past that and enjoyed a very casual dinner.
Christmas was quite interesting. Since my husband has accepted a job position in another state we had to fly there first before we went to his parents house. Well, easier said than done. Winter was cruel the week before and the week of Christmas. Snow was falling the day we were suppose to leave. YES I said suppose to leave. We had a flight on Sunday night that was canceled an hour before it was to leave. We were able to get on the next flight out which wasn't until 6:50 the next morning. Already tired from pulling a double the day before and running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to pack and put the house in order before we left, I didn't sleep at all that night. We got up really early, drove slowly and carefully to the airport, and was surprise to hear our flight was on time. YEAH! The was a little delay though by about and hour once we were on the plane. Extra care taken to de-ice the plane and fill an empty seats with passengers from other delayed or canceled flights from the last few days. Once we got to our destination though, my husband had to go to work. Check in at the hotel wasn't until 3pm. It was about 9 something when we got in, then we had to wait for the luggage and then the bus. Funny story, the first bus that came by said he couldn't pick us up where we were at and he told us to go down to the next pick up spot. As far as my husband knew, pick up was in the section we were at. So that driver just denied his new boss a ride. I wonder what he said to him once he saw him at the location. Anyways, the girls and I spent 5 hours in my husbands new office as he shoveled snow. Apparently there were not a whole lot of his employee's experienced in the matters of snow. It does not snow that much there. Then the girls and I got to the hotel and spent the rest of the night until 12:30 or so the next day there. The roads were finally clear so we were able to make the 3-4 hour drive to his parents house in the next state over. Going up the hill to there house was slow going. Going on the road that runs in front of their house was well, extremely slow. At least 2 feet of snow was on the ground. We spent 4 days at the house. We didn't go any where. It was tough but we got the rest of the family up the hill in my husband's and one of his sisters 4x4 vehicles. Sweet Pea threw up Christmas Eve while she slept. Then she seemed fine. Cocoa threw-up three days later. The next day she seemed fine. Sunday morning the thought was to drive all the way home. Since both girls seemed better and the weather seemed to be cooperating, we were able to make it all the way home. The next morning when my husband was to fly back out to work, he got sick. He stayed home that day but was able to make it out the next day. He came home New Year's Eve. I had to work so our friend watched the girls for a couple hours before he got home. Then they came over to our house and rang in the New Year. Cocoa didn't make it till midnight. She was asleep about 10pm. I didn't get home till almost 11. It was a busy night. Sweet Pea stayed up and then once my husband and I were ready to go to bed, she still wanted to stay up.
So now the new year is upon us and the first thing on the agenda......the girls birthday. Yes they have the same birthday. Hard for most people to believe. I always get the question, "How did you swing that?" Two years apart and a lot of times they act like they are the same age. It's the big 3 and 5. My biggest problem is what to do about the cake. One cake, two cakes? Make the cake? Buy a cake? That will be a good topic for the next time. Oh their birthday's are tomorrow so I better decide what to do.
For Thanksgiving we stayed home instead of making our annual pilgrimage to my in-laws. So I was in charge of cooking as of course I knew I would be. I made turkey, stuffing (cooked in the bird), mashed potatoes, corn, gravy (didn't turn out as well as it could have) and rolls (from scratch I might add). After all was said and done, I got a 97% just like mom's approval rating. I informed his mother of my approval rating and she said, "I never got an approval rating like that." I've watched and helped her cook for the last several years so you'd think I would know what to do by now. I did have a hard time though. There's that point when the turkey is done the potatoes need to be mashed, corn heated up and rolls put in the oven when the kids where complaining and I was getting grumpy. But we got past that and enjoyed a very casual dinner.
Christmas was quite interesting. Since my husband has accepted a job position in another state we had to fly there first before we went to his parents house. Well, easier said than done. Winter was cruel the week before and the week of Christmas. Snow was falling the day we were suppose to leave. YES I said suppose to leave. We had a flight on Sunday night that was canceled an hour before it was to leave. We were able to get on the next flight out which wasn't until 6:50 the next morning. Already tired from pulling a double the day before and running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to pack and put the house in order before we left, I didn't sleep at all that night. We got up really early, drove slowly and carefully to the airport, and was surprise to hear our flight was on time. YEAH! The was a little delay though by about and hour once we were on the plane. Extra care taken to de-ice the plane and fill an empty seats with passengers from other delayed or canceled flights from the last few days. Once we got to our destination though, my husband had to go to work. Check in at the hotel wasn't until 3pm. It was about 9 something when we got in, then we had to wait for the luggage and then the bus. Funny story, the first bus that came by said he couldn't pick us up where we were at and he told us to go down to the next pick up spot. As far as my husband knew, pick up was in the section we were at. So that driver just denied his new boss a ride. I wonder what he said to him once he saw him at the location. Anyways, the girls and I spent 5 hours in my husbands new office as he shoveled snow. Apparently there were not a whole lot of his employee's experienced in the matters of snow. It does not snow that much there. Then the girls and I got to the hotel and spent the rest of the night until 12:30 or so the next day there. The roads were finally clear so we were able to make the 3-4 hour drive to his parents house in the next state over. Going up the hill to there house was slow going. Going on the road that runs in front of their house was well, extremely slow. At least 2 feet of snow was on the ground. We spent 4 days at the house. We didn't go any where. It was tough but we got the rest of the family up the hill in my husband's and one of his sisters 4x4 vehicles. Sweet Pea threw up Christmas Eve while she slept. Then she seemed fine. Cocoa threw-up three days later. The next day she seemed fine. Sunday morning the thought was to drive all the way home. Since both girls seemed better and the weather seemed to be cooperating, we were able to make it all the way home. The next morning when my husband was to fly back out to work, he got sick. He stayed home that day but was able to make it out the next day. He came home New Year's Eve. I had to work so our friend watched the girls for a couple hours before he got home. Then they came over to our house and rang in the New Year. Cocoa didn't make it till midnight. She was asleep about 10pm. I didn't get home till almost 11. It was a busy night. Sweet Pea stayed up and then once my husband and I were ready to go to bed, she still wanted to stay up.
So now the new year is upon us and the first thing on the agenda......the girls birthday. Yes they have the same birthday. Hard for most people to believe. I always get the question, "How did you swing that?" Two years apart and a lot of times they act like they are the same age. It's the big 3 and 5. My biggest problem is what to do about the cake. One cake, two cakes? Make the cake? Buy a cake? That will be a good topic for the next time. Oh their birthday's are tomorrow so I better decide what to do.
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