Fundraising, Melissa Joan Hart and Fiber

We're gearing up for the final week of school around here. Amusingly enough, the grading period actually ends today, yet they have one more week of school.

How does this make sense? If they can't grade them on anything else, why should they have school?

The answer: Field trips to waterparks and pizza places, class parties, awards ceremonies, kindergarten graduations, and days to just play in the sprinklers.

SERIOUSLY? This was sooooo not the case when I was in school! IF I were lucky, my mom would take us for a scoop of ice cream on the last day of school! Things have really changed! We have less money, yet we have more things to spend it on.

Speaking of that, I can remember the way my elementary school operated when I was a kid. When the PTA decided that the school should be able to have one of those newfangled Xerox machines, they organized a fundraiser. We sold candy bars to earn the money for the first copy machine. That's just how it was. You want something, you find a way to earn money for it. If someone asks my kids what they are having fundraisers for, their answer is usually, "Money for the school." They have no clue what the school wants or needs to do with the money.

Granted, they need the money, I know! But things were so much simpler when we just earned one thing at a time, you know? When I started elementary school, we didn't have air conditioning in the classrooms. That was a luxury. While I was there, they did install a/c.

Hehe...between the a/c and the Xerox machine, we were SO ahead of our time! HAHAHAHA!

Okay...how did I get here?

Ooooohh...that's right. I remember now: Melissa Joan Hart.

You see, Melissa Joan Hart is just a year younger than I am. I see her as an 'age equal' of sorts. So, when she was on GMA this morning talking about her weight loss after her second baby, I paid attention. I have three kids and I could definitely stand to lose some poundage myself. She talked about how she did it and how she got ready for her COVER OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE PHOTO SHOOT IN A BIKINI.

She also talked about how she saw so many pictures of herself with all the baby weight on and how she realized that she now had to compete with the young women on the scene. Then, she named off Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus.

OMG....I'M NOT YOUNG ANYMORE, AM I?

That put a little knot in my stomach. The new 'young women' are Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens? Miley is three years older than my oldest daughter.

If Sabrina the Teenaged Witch is no longer young, then neither am I!

So, here I sit. I just finished my bowl of All Bran. (No, I'm not joking. Fiber is crucial to proper digestive health, you know!) I'm also glad that I washed my compression stockings last night and hung them to dry...I'll need them today.

Hmmm....maybe the Metamucil crowd will have me. I'm sure I'd still be young on that scene...

Black Eyes and Incredible Growing Puppies

I'm trying to get her to say, "You should see the other guy!"

I often make jokes about beating my children or selling them on Craigslist. Right now, I try not to joke like that with people who don't know me because my THREE-YEAR-OLD HAS A BLACK EYE. Sunday was a rather low-key day around our house. David did some yard work (or whatever he does when he goes outside) and I was trying to recover from the day before. (Which was awesome, but tiring as well!) 3YO had been a bit on the moody side. We had just gotten back from swimming with the neighbors. 3YO goes to the freezer and attempts to help herself to a corn dog. Combine the amount of food she had already wasted that day with the fact that I was starting dinner and she gets a firm 'NO CORNDOG' in response from me.

Well, that response triggered a Class 1 meltdown from said 3YO. My only choice was to tell her that she needed to finish that tantrum in her room, should she choose to continue. She puts the corn dogs back and heads to her room, her head spinning and everything. Since I could very well hear the screaming, I knew she was heading toward her room. I did not need to watch her, anyone could tell where she was from the horrible noise she was making! The funny thing is, the crying didn't change. She hadn't gotten to her room yet. I ask her why she's not in her room and she just keeps on crying.

Just then, David walks by. He asks why she's crying and I tell him. He sort of nodded in understanding and then followed that up with, "But, what happened to her eye?"

That got my attention.

Apparently, she rounded the corner in her fit of rage and didn't pay attention to the large hutch that has always been there. She has a purple bump come up immediately under the outside corner of her eye. Once she realizes she's justified in crying, she stops. She no longer complains about her eye. We try to ice it, but she won't have it.

The next morning, she wakes up with a full-on shiner. I like to call her my little 'prize fighter.' But the jokes about beating my children and such...they pretty much have to be put on hold until my child no longer looks like I actually beat her. Then, I'm sure the tasteless jokes will continue.

In other news, LOOK HOW BIG MY PUPPY IS GETTING!

"HUH?"

I love the boxer head-tilt thing. It sums up the breed perfectly.

Here is Aly in comparison to Lily. They are just about the same height now, though Lily still has a few pounds on her! Every week, like clockwork, I have to loosen Aly's collar another notch. Is this really the puppy I was worried about? Hardly. The giant paws and lean muscle are making her look so strong and powerful. She's still all legs, but her body doesn't look so skinny now!

Lastly, Lily is still such the lady, isn't she? She always crosses her front paws when she lays down.

Such a lady.