So... it turns out that I have not had as much time to blog lately as I would like. I mean, it has been TWO weeks since Jon's birthday party and I haven't posted about that? Craziness! It does make me feel a little better that his mylar ballons my Mom gave him still have air in them. Once they all sink to the floor and there is STILL no birthday party post? Then we've got a problem! Part of the issue is that I don't know how to fix the redeye on them. I can't find that feature on our new(ish) laptop. So, I am waiting for Dave to help me with it. But he has been working A LOT lately. Like A LOT A LOT! The other night, Thursday, I got home from work at 4:30, and Jonathan had horseback lessons at 5:30. Which meant I had to get them dressed (appropriately) and fed, and then I had to navigate the Wickham road traffic to get him there on time. Well, let's just say, I did not succeed. It all went wrong before I even turned out of my neighborhood. The traffic was so bad that I could not turn left to go North. Deep breath... OK. So I will turn right, and then do a loop-around in a parking lot somewhere to get headed the correct direction. But then... the traffic was so bad that I could not get over...then I thought I would turn on 192 and head to US1, but I still couldn't get over. EVENTUALLY, I was finally able to get into the left lane, probably close to 2 miles from my neighborhood, took a little "shortcut", and got onto 192 to get to US1. Mind you, the stables should only be about 15 minutes from our house, and I have already SPENT 15 minutes just to get on an EASTbound road, when I really need to be going NORTH. So, we got on US1, which
used to be the quicker road, and I have to say, it was worse than Wickham (but as a Facebook friend so helpfully pointed out, I "might have died if I took the other road.") I said a lot of words I should not have said with the kids in the car, or, rather, I said one word several times that I should not have said with the kids in the car. (It started with a D, not an F; I'm not that bad.)
We get to horseback lessons 15 minutes late (not SO bad, right?). And Jonathan is THRILLED that they have Buttercup waiting for him. He LOVES Buttercup. She isn't quite as pretty as the other horses there, so I don't know if they save her for him (most of the other riders are girls and I am not sure they would want to ride on a not so pretty horse), but he was SO glad to see her. He did great at his first lesson back. It makes me so happy to see him on a horse. I am not a horse person. I've never ridden a horse, except piggy back with someone else, or a pony ride, you know. I am actually scared of horses. But you know, ten years ago, I was adamantly against cats. I was NOT a cat person. Now, I have two cats. Ask Dave how that happened. It was all his idea.
We got into the car, and I told Jon that we could not go to the Dollar Tree on the way home (because it was only an hour from bedtime, he had homework, and his little sister had spent the entire hour at lessons literally rubbing dirt into her skin and all over her body and clothes, and I would venture to guess that even at the Dollar Tree, her appearance would not have gone over well!). He is totally upset with me and decides he simply won't speak to me the rest of the night. (That went fine until he needed help with his shower and homework.) While we were still in the car, driving home, I was listing all of my Reasons Why we couldn't go to Dollar Tree. He needed to do his homework, I had to get their dirty clothes in the wash, Anna needed a MAJOR bath, he needed a shower, I needed to pack their lunches for tomorrow, etc. Anna pipes up from the backseat, "Oh, no. We really need Daddy. How are you ever going to get all that done? We really need Daddy to come home. If he comes home, he can help Jonny while you give me a bath, and then..." She carries on, listing all the logical ways Dave and I normally work as a team to get everything done. I told her, "Mama can take care of it. Everything will be fine." Inwardly, I am thinking,
I have a screaming bad headache, I am already exhausted, and I have no idea how we are going to get everything done and get to bed on time! I want Daddy, TOO!!!!The next morning, in the car on the way to school, Jonathan says, "Mama, what if Daddy has an explosion at his work today?"
Before I even have a chance to respond... Anna replies, "Bubba, you have GOT to stop thinking of everything like Dustbusters!" She is referring to
Mythbusters, of course. I explained to Jon that Daddy doesn't have a dangerous job, that he just works on computers. To which Jon replies, "Well, a
computer could explode, Mama."
Later, I go and pick Anna up from school (is anyone else getting a sense of how much of life I spend in the car?). I let her call Grandma Jane on the cell phone. She has a very good conversation with her about Halloween and what each of us will be for Trick or Treating. Anna also tells her we are coming to see her in Kentucky at Christmas time. I assume that Dave has told the kids this, so when I speak to Jane, I say, yes, yes we are going to come up around Christmas time. (Later, I find out, that Dave has not actually decided if we were or were not going to go, {00psy!} but I think that Anna has decided for us! If you heard how cute she sounds when she says "Grandma Jane" "Kentucky" and "Christmas" you would totally be headed north over Christmas break!) Somehow her talk of Christmas leads her into one of her favorite stories: "Remember, Mama, when you had me at Christmas, and I was the best present you
ever, ever got?" I told her this once, and she repeats it all the time. It is the truth, though... bringing home my baby girl on Christmas Eve, I can't imagine what could ever be a better Christmas gift! THEN Anna goes into another one of her little stories: "You always wanted a boy AND a girl, but you could not decide which one you got. So you did it two times, and you got exactly what you wanted! A boy AND a girl!"
Well, it was a
little more complicated than that, and I just like to gloss over the "did it two times" part, because Lord knows that is a whole! 'nother! thing altogether. But basically, yes, I did get exactly what I wanted. :) I always thought I would have two little boys... but deep down, I really wanted to have one of each.
I drop Anna off at Nona's, and go to pick up Jonathan. I moved his booster seat into the front seat. He knows when I pick him up that this means we are going on a date! His other clue is that Anna is not in the car. I tell him, we're going on a date to the Dollar Tree. First, he says, "Did you bring my wallet?" I tell him yes. Then he says, "Can we not call it a date anymore? Can we please just call it a Happy Time?"
Umm... yeah. I am little weirded out by the term "date" too, so I am totally okay with that.
Jonathan has 45 dollars from his birthday and also some piggy bank savings. He plans to spend $5 on FIVE notebooks. He has a plan that each notebook will be for a different thing, such as Drawing, Wish Lists, and Rhyming... We get inside the Dollar Tree, and he is just in awe. He keeps asking over and over, you mean, everything's a dollar? Just 1 dollar, Mama? He gets to the school supply section, and he is THRILLED to learn that you can get THREE memo pads in a pack for, yes, just a dollar! He gets TWO, so he will have SIX notebooks! And for only TWO dollars! Next, he moves onto pencils. He selects a pack of 20 #2 yellows. I point out, "Look, buddy, there are all kinds of pencils!" Foil prism, ones with words, cartoons, etc. He gives me a look that his Daddy gives me often and this is what it means:
You must be a little slow, but I love you, so I am going to stay neutral and try to explain this to you without revealing in my voice just how much smarter I am than you... He takes a deep breath. "Mama," he begins, slowly, patiently, "Why would I buy those pencils when there are only 12 in there? For one dollar? When I can get
these," shaking the box at me for emphasis, "TWENTY for one dollar? Do you see?"
The last things he purchases is a box to hold his twenty boring old pencils in (I think that I should have bought some of the shiny, pretty pencils for myself!) and he STILL has one more dollar to spend. So he selects a present for Biscuit and Mutton, a package of 2 tennis balls (for a dollar). We get to the checkout, and he says, "I just have to get my $5 bill out." The clerk says, "That will be $5.30!" Jon looks down at his items and up at her and then over at me, like, is this lady trying to take us for a ride, Mama? "Oh!" I say, "I forgot about sales tax! You need to give her another dollar." He tries to hand her the $6 dollars but he loses his nerve at the last minute and kind of throws it down near her hand and retreats a little. She gives him seventy cents back. I can see him doing the mental math, and deciding that this must be okay. He puts the change and the "coupon (AKA receipt)" in his wallet. As we are leaving, he says, "That was great, Mama."
This year, instead of making myself crazy trying to create a fancy cake (involving 10 different colors of icing and complicated directions, also causing my hand to go numb and painful for days after), or a sort of ugly- yet- kid- pleasing cake (last year's Star Wars/Legoes fiasco), I went for simple. And...effortless, in that I put forth no effort. The kids pretty much handled the cupcake making (see below) and Dave handled the cupcake/candle decoration/arrangement (see above).
Jonathan and his buddy Jaiyden, who is the son of my friend that I met when I was his age! Isn't that sweet?
The four Smith cousins... wish baby Abe-y were there to make it the five Smith cousins. :)
I LOVE this picture, with his hand up to his head. It is so Jonathan... I think he was all overwhelmed and happy about his gifts.
Anna (4) and Trystan (5) together at Jon's party. :)
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