May Have Forgotten to Mention

Our neighbors teenage son got a drum set for Christmas...

Greg and I are thinking about getting him a metronome...

Oh! And he has friends with guitars and amps.

The Power of Guilt

I called my parents to chew them out. They never told me how guilt works so well with parenting. I had no idea. It is such a powerful tool...

All I wanted was a new shirt, or sweater or something to go out in when Greg's parents were here. We had some time to kill before a Dr. appointment for Melissa and McCoulou's is just down the street. I grabbed the kids some Jamba Juice and over to the store we went. And out of the store we went. My kids were HORRIBLE!!! We couldn't walk 2 steps without one of them whining, or hollering that the other did something. I had had it! We get in the car and I laid it on THICK! I told them how disappointing it was that I couldn't ever do anything for myself it they were with me. I was really bad and told them that I took it personally that they were behaving so atrociously, that it appeared that they were very selfish and couldn't possibly want anything good for anyone else, the least of all their mother. Well, at the end of my ranting and the appointment, they were to come home and go to their rooms. Nothing else, just that.

Here's where it gets good. My little guilt trip worked soooooo well that without even been asked, or told they started cleaning. And I do mean cleaning. Beds were made. Clothes were hung up. Toys were put away in the right spots in the closet. Books were organized by size and under the bookshelf was cleaned out. Mirrors were wiped "clean" with moistened toilet paper. And it got even better. Underwear drawers were emptied, folded and put back in. Sock drawers were emptied and sorted.

Ahh, the joys of parenting. Almost brought tears to my eyes. Mainly because I was laughing so hard!

Anti Procrastination Resolution.....and NOT for New Years

HELP!!!

We all know that I can procrastinate with the best of them. I've been whining for years that I need to get all the kids pictures in some sort of order. You know; instead of the huge tote I have in the garage that is full to the brim that I keep lugging around move after move.

Well, it caught up to me. I am going to have to get something done about it in the next week or so. Nothing like your kids homework to prod you into doing what has needed to be done for the last 10 years.

Austin is working on his autobiography. He too has been procrastinating (I taught him well) and now he has about 10 days to finish it all up. Pictures need to be included. Won't I look like the bad mom if I can't find them! So, out comes the box to the dining room, the table will be covered for weeks I'm sure, but maybe, just maybe I can make sense of it all.

Whew! We Made It!

Made it through Christmas!

Greg's parents came out for about 10 days or so and boy did we keep busy! We went to go see the Dancing with the Stars Tour down in San Jose. Even Greg was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. One of the high lights was that we actually can now say that we have seen Wayne Newton live! HAHA. (He was singing and not dancing) However, poor Greg didn't get to see Julianne Hough. Her cute brother was there instead. :-) We went out to the wine country and his dad was kind enough to buy me a couple of yummy bottles! We hit San Fran one day and hopped on a boat tour of the bay and saw the old fort that is build under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Christmas itself went off without a hitch! I think Santa was MORE than generous this year considering we took off for an unexpected trip to Disney World in November! The kids had "the best Christmas EVER"! Pogo Sticks all around. Wii games, including the Dance Revolution that I am hooked on. Some good books. A bike ramp. New roller blades. An i-pod for Mom and weights for Dad. Oh. And did I mention the parrot?

Only downfall to Christmas here is no snow. Sure doesn't feel like Christmas no matter how many lights I put on the house. Or in the house. The green grass and blooming plants just throws me off. Oh well. The neighbors were feeling guilty because they have grown kids and don't always do lights outside anymore. But they said that house looked nice with all the lights up.

I still need to see about getting pictures off of Greg's computer and then I can post them. Check back later!

My Little Blondie

In case you are wondering. When you are playing Uno you are "playing on your own team, single file."

Christmas is Coming

And I actually have all my shopping done!

Now...if I could just get on those cards.....

That Sinking Feeling You Get

You know, there is this funny little feeling you get when you go out in search of your son, turning the corner and seeing police lights flashing and your boy standing there looking up into the face of an officer.

The boys were out today working on thier bike ramps. We have this section in our neighborhood that is just dirt and trees and stuff. So all the kids in the area have been digging holes and creating these ramps to jump. The city came in and leveled the ramps kids had built over the summer down near the creek, so...they thought they'd do a little construction themselves. Harmless really, but you know how it goes. One grouchy neighbor can ruin it all. Turned them in.

Anyway, as it happens it wasn't the cops, but the state park rangers. Apparently the boys had been digging on park land that connects to Mt. Diablo. The rangers were great, talked to the boys about leaving nature at it is, you know, leave no trace. Educated them on what type of rocks they were uncovering (Serpentine is the state rock of California), gave them the history of the bear that is on the California flag (now extinct), and enlisted the boys to become junior rangers. And while they thought it was fantastic that the boys were out digging and riding bikes instead of playing computer games they did ask that they not dig anymore.

Ironically, Austin was the one who ran for the hills when he saw the truck with the lights. The others were ready to stand up and take it. He did come back though...couple of points there I guess.

Mmmm his first run in with the law. And he's only 10. It's going to be a long road isn't it?