Scoutmamma Sez

Michael asks me this every now and then. Can you dot com Star Wars Cheetos? Can you dot com Spider-man? Basically he wants me to "dot com" whatever he is interested in at that moment. I find it funny that a just-turned-five year old has "dot com" in his vocabulary. Funny that he knows that it means to find something on the computer. Funny that 9 times out of 10 I can find what it is he wants. Did you know there are games about Pepperidge Farm Goldfish? Nestle Nesquik? Cheetos? I can remember when I was growing up and we had a Pong video game. Oh, the graphics! We had a Texas Instruments computer keyboard that hooked up to a tv. It was exciting when we had voice capability added to it. Technology is moving so fast. All of my kids know about the computer. Melanie hasn't played any games yet but she knows to move the mouse and click. She LOVES to do it when I'm at the computer. The boys aren't scared to sit in front of a computer. They've been playing games on it for quite a while now.

I wonder how it will be when they have kids. Will they remember back when they had to dot com in something? Tell their kids, we had to actually type in data? It will be interesting to see.

I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate my Dad's birthday today, April 17th. I don't say often enough how my dad is a good dad. He may not give a lot of hugs but he will say that he loves us. He has always supported me and my sisters in whatever we do. He seems to be well liked by his peers and I've heard more than once my mom say that he is a good man. I need to tell him how much I appreciate him more often. Time goes by so fast and before long I won't be able to tell him.

Thank you, Dad for being you. I hope you enjoy your special day. We love you.

I've been trying and trying to think of something to blog. There has been so much "stuff" going on right now. Some of it good, some of it sad. Therefore I decided I'm just sappy!

April is just such a hard month. Evidently not just for me but for others as well. There has been a lot of sadness around me. Others have experienced a loss or other hardship around this time of the year. Sometimes I think that spring is supposed to be a time of rebirth and renewal and that is not what I'm seeing. That is the sad part.

Then I'm reminded of some good things. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and supports me during this time. I get to celebrate my 2nd child's birthday this month, along with my husband's and both my parents. I'm blessed with a sweet, lovely, healthy family. That's the happy part.

I figure I'll just combine the two and call myself sappy.

Today is my mom's 76th birthday. I just wanted to take a moment and say "Happy Birthday, Mom"

I wish I could say that we had a wonderful relationship. We don't have a bad one, but it's not a close, girlfriend type relationship. We butt heads fairly often. However, we also get over it fairly quickly too. We get along - but not for long periods of time.

I do love her. She's my mom. She has taught me a lot on how to be a wife and mother and daughter in law. She has been married to her husband, my dad, for almost 51 years. She practically raised 2 other daughters before she had me. My sisters are 10 and 13 years older than me. She welcomed her mother in law to live with us when I was 13. Granddad was in the nursing home and they moved Grandmother in with us until she needed to go to the nursing home. She made a point to visit them in the nursing home every day.

Mom taught me that I always have to write a thank you note. I can remember every package I would get would be prefaced with "Be sure to write a thank you note" before I could even get the package opened. Nowadays the preface before opening a package is "If you don't like it, you can take it back".

There are so many more things big and small that I could write about my mother. I'm sure I would forget something. I just wanted to take a moment and say "Happy Birthday" to her. Now I need to go make a phone call.

I have been trying for a few days to think of a topic to blog. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm still thinking! Other than Michael's birthday, we've just had the same old routine in our house. I guess I'm like the kids and like a routine. The only problem is that my routine seems to involve cleaning toilets and doing laundry. Since I'm a stay at home mom, I do see it as my "job" but it can be hard to get excited about that. Some days I just don't want to do it at all. That can be good because I'm spending time with the family and not focused on my job. Then there are some days I end up putting the kids aside saying, "Not now. I need to do x,y,z" Sometimes those things really need to get done. Some days they aren't as important as I make it. I guess it all boils down to balance. Learning to balance the responsibilty with the fun.

Well, I guess I need to go be responsible now.....for just a little bit.....then I can go back to having fun! :o)

Today is my Michael's birthday. He's 5 years old. It is hard to believe how fast time has gone. He was born after the loss of my twin girls. Some said that I should've waited to get pregnant again but I knew I was ready. I had mourned the girls during my pregnancy and I just KNEW we were to have another and that I was ready. I'm so glad he came when he did. He's such a funny little guy. Sometimes he can get SO mad and then he can turn around and give you a hug and a kiss. He can make me laugh. Yesterday I was feeling really down and started crying. He saw me (you NEVER have a minute alone as a mom) and said, "Just stop thinking about it" Pretty good advice from a five year old.

We love you Michael and we are enjoying watching you grow up.