Today At The Store...

I needed to purchase some feminine products. You know which ones I'm talking about. Will took three steps into the aisle, realized where we were and said "You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe I'm in this aisle." "Well, you can always look at the body wash, Will." I said. "That's not really much better, Mom." Oh. Yes. I forgot. Not only are natural body cycles absolutely repulsive, but the fact that people actually wash their bodies is not to be discussed, either.

Mr. Noodle

Ella is almost two. She talks, a lot. To her, I'm Mommy, Ben is Gaggy, Elizabeth is Thethie. She says the names of her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, or something very closely resembling their names.

But Will? She won't even try. To her, he's Noodle.

There and Back Again

Yes, I am a Lord of the Rings geek.

But that is not what this post is about.

I have been an on again off again blogger for a while now. I've actually blogged on blogger before. Then I left. And now I'm back. Will I be here tomorrow? Maybe not. My sister-in-law may choose to disown me if I'm not here tomorrow, though. Kidding.

I guess that the real reason that I haven't blogged a lot this summer, or this year, how ever you want to look at it, is because I just feel so busy and overwhelmed with all that I have on my plate. And thinking of how to make my crazy life sound funny and always optimistic is a tall order for me lately.

Luckily for me, my kids take care of that problem for me. Those little ones are bursting with humor and hope and joy. Seeing the world through their eyes is the best thing ever. And you know what, I think that I just need to stop spending hours and days thinking of the perfect way to post things, because the purpose for this blog is to record my family's stories so that one day, my children can read it and remember their lives and see themselves the way that I see them. Or at least have concrete proof that their mother was crazy and it was all their fault. I'd be happy with a little of both.

The other day, Elizabeth was watching Barbie Rapunzel. In the movie, there is a large purple dragon who works for the evil chick who keeps Rapunzel locked in the tower. The dragon has a daughter. At one point in the movie, the dragon speaks rather sharply to his daughter. Elizabeth, who is watching intently, gets a very upset look on her face. She then turns to me and says: "That daddy dragon should NOT be talking to his daughter that way! My daddy would never talk to me that way because he loves me and I am a princess." And in that, she is right. She and her sister Ella both have their daddy wrapped around their little fingers. Daddy is their go-to guy. Ella's all time favorite thing to do is to sit next to him and listen to a little Bob Dylan on the Real Player on his cellphone. She's happy to just snuggle up to him and bop her little head along in time with the music that her daddy loves too. Elizabeth once tugged on her daddy's pant leg one evening after he'd just presented me with flowers and chocolate because I'd had a long, hard day. (Do you see why I am married to this man???) She looked sad and asked "Daddy, don't you love me?" He looked so shocked! Then he said "Why of course I love you!" "Then where are my flowers, Daddy? *sniff*". Yeah, he should start saving for their weddings now.

And one more cute, random story that I know I'll be glad that I typed up later, even if it doesn't really go along with this post. Or maybe it does.

Ben took Will with him to work the other day. It was the end of a big conference and Ben was going in to help take down some displays. As they were driving there, Ben was careful to talk with Will about how he needed to be on his best behavior, that Will would be meeting Daddy's boss and that it was important that he did what Ben asked and that he didn't run around like a crazy boy. Will was adamant that he understood. They walk in. Ben's boss greets them and asks Will what his name is. Will sighs and aims a thumb in Ben's direction and says: "Well, he calls me Slime."