Anniversaries and Young Teenagers

Eight years ago today, David and I each bought a ticket on this crazy, frightening, amazing, wonderful, terrible, wouldn't-have-it-any-other-way roller coaster of marriage. Luckily, we both love roller coasters. (That doesn't mean that one or both of us doesn't get a bit queasy on some of the turns, though!)

He has to work today. BOO! While 14YO and 7YO are in school, I plan to pawn 4YO off on my mom for an hour or so have have lunch with my husband. That's pretty much the extent of how we will celebrate our anniversary. We might schedule a 'date night' on a weekend in the near or distant future because we're due for one, but I doubt we'll call THAT an anniversary date. Some years this date will have more time and energy devoted to it than others. This year is one of the 'others!' Last year, we decided to buy a boxer puppy and call that our anniversary present toward each other. This year, that 'present' causes more than her share of disagreements between us, so a 'no gifts policy' for this year is probably for the best!

I really need to get Aly in some sort of dog training class. I can get her to sit, lie down, shake paws, and even crawl across the floor. She's really a smart dog, but with such a short attention span she is still more of a heathen than a loyal and obedient companion. She has the foundation of a good dog. She loves her 'people' and most others. She barks ferociously when she hears a noise and would never purposely hurt any of her 'people.' That being said, she gets highly excited and really obnoxious when someone comes over and it takes a long time for her to calm down. She loves kids so much she knocks them over as part of her greeting. Most of them really hate that! I would love to be able to open the front door and not have to either hold her back or stare her down and growl myself to keep her from making a run for it. Once she gets outside of the house or yard, she forgets her name and just RUNS. Chasing her down and catching her is no fun and can be quite time consuming. And I really wish she would stop eating crayons! (Though, that really does add 'color' to the backyard when the crayons have run their course! Maybe she's really an artist and just very misunderstood...)

I just had this horrible, sinking feeling that I'm forgetting something today. I ran to check the calendar on my phone and there is nothing scheduled for today. What could it be? I HATE THAT! I think it might have something to do with school, but I'm not quite sure which school. I have a faint memory of reading this date somewhere and thinking, "Okay, so the day that goes back to school, will be going on." Maybe it was just when I our anniversary. I hope that was it. I spend so much of my life feeling like I'm forgetting something or dropping a ball somewhere...and I'm usually right!

Moving on...

I'm pretty sure that 4YO is working on being 'The World's Youngest Teenager.' She listens to music too loudly and could spend the whole day reapplying her 'makeup.' (Her makeup usually consists of some sort of Chap Stick or clear lip gloss but it changes all the time because she uses so much of it!) Personally, I would love for her to be a little more obsessed about brushing her hair, but we can't have everything we want right?

7YO is doing well. She's just getting back to school today, so we'll see how the day goes! She got a little 'Best Friends' necklace set and plans to give the other one to one of her little friends today. I worry that this could cause some sort of conflict amongst some of her friends, but she has to learn her own lessons in her own time. Learning how to deal with these types of situations is a basic life skill that so many people are not equipped to handle, even as adults. Then again, if she intentionally snubs anyone during this process, we will not be getting anymore of these types of goodies. I have my fingers crossed that no one gets their feelings hurt today!

14YO is...well, she's fourteen! We did a little 'cell phone switch-a-roo' this past week and she's not sure how to set the alarm on the new one (which is my old one!) so she didn't wake up as early as she'd have liked to. I totally forgot to tell her about that. And she forgot to ask. She still made it out the door on time, so no harm done there.

It just seems like April is not supposed to be this busy. Easter has already come and gone, yet the rest of the month seems really hectic. Every weekend and most weekdays there is something going on, big or small. I cannot remember the last time I cooked a real dinner for my family. (Okay, that's not totally true...I know I cooked a few full dinners last week, but it still seems like it's been to long!)

Yesterday, I had a day at home ALL BY MYSELF. It was awesome! I spent all day in my pajamas trying to cram as many episodes of 'Weeds' into my day as possible. I woke up with a headache and it stayed with me the whole entire day, even with my allergy meds and regular doses of ibuprofen. I've recently gotten hooked on that show on Netflix and am now almost halfway through the second season. I can't watch it with the kids around, so it will probably take me FOREVER to get through all of them! How often am I still conscious with no kids around?

Speaking of kids, 4YO is parading around in MY high heels and asking me to paint her nails. AGAIN. This one's not going to be so easy to raise, is she?