Well I Embarrassed my Teenager AGAIN!!

I really didn't mean to this time. His cell phone is broken. If he tries to use the phone in the normal way, no one can hear him. But he figured out that if he uses the speaker phone option, then he can make it work.

This means that he can no longer have private cell phone conversations.

Well his curfew on school nights is 10pm. He stayed out til 10pm on Wednesday night. And he was out again last night (Thursday). So I called him on his phone to ask what he was doing, and if he'd applied for any jobs that day.

I told him that I'd like for him to come home before 10pm. He asked why. So in my cutest Mom voice I said "Because I like to see your handsome face sometimes!!!" Welllll....he had me on speaker phone, and was apparently within earshot of several of his friends. They then proceeded to make fun of him....or rather ME. LOL.

Poor kid. Of course, then he couldn't come home before 9:55pm and still save face. So I didn't see him until late last night. He didn't pitch a conniption fit though. Just told me that all his friends had heard what I said and gave him a hard time.

TGIF. Saturday is our last set of Basketball games.

An Oldie, but A Goodie

How I ended up with a 9 year old riding the hood of my car down the driveway.

At the beginning of September, JB had been with us only a couple of weeks. Frank ALWAYS acts up every football season because my husband is away so much coaching.

Well I was trying to get a bank account set up for JB. He'd played football the night before, so I let him sleep until 11am. The bank closed at Noon. So I got him up, got all the kids in the car, and Frank is fiddling around with batteries in a walkman. I told him that I didn't have time for that, he was going to have to wait until I came back home.

I didn't realize then how mad he was. So I herd him to the car, and his bike is behind the car. Now we'd been telling JB that Frank has horrible tantrums sometimes. But it's hard for people to believe that this sweet and petite little boy can turn into a devil child.

So I lock the door and turn around, and the bike is now RIGHT AGAINST the back of the mini-van. I look at Frank and tell him calmly "Frank, if you don't move that bike, I swear on a stack of bibles that I WILL run over it." I have done such things before, so he knows that I mean business. He grabs the bike and slings it across the yard and starts in with his stomping and cursing, etc.

Now I live in a very, very small and safe town...and he's 9 years old. So I tell him to go to his room, that I am NOT taking him to the bank when he's out of control nor am I going to change my schedule for him. I have to help escort him to his room, then I head back to the mini-van.

Well as I went through the house, he apparently went out the back door and around the outside of the house. As I pull out of the garage he's hitting and kicking the mini-van, throws a folding chair at it and is cursing. JB's eyes are about as big as saucers. He says "What are you going to do?" I reply calmly that I am going to the BANK....and I keep backing down the driveway.

Well they are building a new house next door to me. As I clear the garage I see that about 5 construction works are standing at the front of the house watching all this. About the same time, my son puts his foot on the bumper of my car and jumps across the hood putting his fingers in between the hood and the windshield to hold on. Now I'm finally angry. I'm sure there are flames shooting out of my eyes.

I put the vehicle in park, get out and slam the door shut. As I'm doing this, I hear one of the construction workers exclaim "Holy SHIT!!!" Frank knows he's crossed a line beyond lines, and he gets off the hood and starts running. JB goes "Should I go try to catch him???? What are you going to do??" I tell him "I run 3 miles 3 times a week, and I can't catch him. You are a LINEMAN, you SURE can't catch him. I am GOING TO THE BANK!!!" So I get back in my car.

My house backs onto a busy main street. I drive through the neighborhood until I get to where our division empties out on the main street. I look both ways before pulling out, and there is my son running down the middle of the street. So I sigh. I'm defeated. He's obviously so out of control that I cannot leave him. So I roll JB's window down and yell at Frank to get in the car. Frank refuses.

So JB askes if I want him to try. I tell him go ahead...can't hurt. So the conversation goes like this.

JB says "FRANK get in the car."

Frank says "No, if I do she will take me to JAIL."

JB says "DUDE, they don't take little kids to jail. We're going to the bank!!"

Frank screams back "No, she will. I know she will. She SAYS we're going to the bank, but she'll take me to jail instead."

JB says "DUDE, I PROMISE. We are going to the bank. Get in the car."

And he finally does. And I make it to the bank with five minutes to spare. JB gets his checking accounting. And I deal with Frank later after Bob is home and my blood pressure is back to normal.

Mother Knows Best

I think sometimes when I talk about how smart Carlie is, people assume that I am just a starry-eyed bragging Mom. And Okay, somewhat I am!!! But she IS really smart.

I had her parent teacher conference a few days ago for Pre-School. She's doing so much better socially.....she's minding the teacher....no longer throwing tantrums at school. And I was really glad to hear that. Carlie tends to be a non-conformist.

They say she's really bright and show me where they have tested her and she knows all the letters and sounds, etc. I ask the teacher if she ever had any time in the class to work with Carlie on her level. The teacher looks at me kind of funny and asks what I'm talking about. And I say "Well she's reading really well. Do you get a chance to work with her at all on her reading?" She looks at me and goes "She can read?" Uhhh, well yeah. She's been reading since her third birthday. The teacher goes on to tell me that Carlie often sits quietly in the corner and looks at books, but she's just looking at the pictures, not reading them. So I encourage her to have Carlie read to her out loud sometime. I can tell by the look that the teacher is giving me that she doesn't believe me.

So I get a call yesterday from the Pre-School. "Mrs. Pool, I had Carlie read to me today. And she can read very HARD books!!" So, I'm thinking to myself....Ummm....well yes, I knew this already. She hasn't just been looking at the pictures all this time. LOL. She reads on a 2nd grade level.

She can read things that I really wish she couldn't. She chased me down with the Sunday paper this weekend to excitedly show me an advertisement and explain to me that Chuck E Cheese is running a special where you buy two large pizzas and get 40 free tokens, and we should go right away!!!!

An Unusually Somber Post

The funeral that I went to today was for a young man. He was 43 years old. He'd been battling cancer, and he knew that it was terminal. It was so obvious from the life celebration today that he was well loved and he'd touched many lives. It made me wonder how many people would come to my funeral, and what would they say about me? It's good to ponder that question once in a while to make sure your life is on the right track.

Since he knew he was dying, he left a brief message to be read to the people at his funeral. In it he encouraged each one of us to go home and spend time with our spouse and our children. And to kiss and hug them extra hard and tell them how much you love them. So I came home tonight and did just that. Thank you, Neal.

I Hate You, and I'm Going to Hump You.

Ahhh....my kids are all such characters. When JB came to live with us, his Lab-mix dog, named Bo, also came. We were upstairs the other day, and I heard my little boy yell "Mom, Bo is humping one of the stuffed animals." My first thought was "Ewwwww!" My second thought was "Hmmm....I didn't realize he knew that word."

Well Libby got mad at Ms. Loretta yesterday and told her "I hate you and I'm going to HUMP you!!!!" Loretta said "Libby POOL!!! Do you even know what that means???" Libby said that no, she didn't know, but Frank piped up "I do. I do. I know what it means. It means you want to make a baby with someone!"

He told me later that Krystal, the neighbor girl had supplied him with that information. I guess it's time for me to sit them down and have the birds and bees talk with them.

I'm going to a funeral today. One of my co-workers lost her 43 year old son to colon cancer on Saturday. It doesn't matter how old your kids are, a mother's love is still the same.

Monday Morning Misfire

So it's really hard for me to work full time, and keep up with five kids and two adults and all of their various appointments. My new BlackBerry I got through work helps alot. So I was proud of myself that my alarm went off on the BlackBerry this morning telling me that Carlie and I had an appointment at the Dentist at 8:30 am.

Bless her heart, she's so excited to go to the dentist and to have some Mommy time. I get her booster seat into my Solstice and get her all buckled in. She chattered non-stop the whole way there. She remember's the last dentist appointment six months ago very clearly...even to the details of the toy lizard she got when she was done and the color of her free toothbrush.

We walk into the Dentist's office only to find out the appointment had been previously rescheduled to Monday the 3rd. I have no idea if they called me, and I didn't get it changed on my calendar or not.

Carlie was very disappointed to not get to see the dentist today. To cheer her up, we stopped by a convenience store and each got a Pop and some Candy. She was happy after that. She put her Mountain Dude in the cup holder on her booster seat and away we went back home.

Speaking of Carlie, last week she came to me to get my help putting on a night gown. My Mom Radar went off because I'd already put a night gown on her once that evening. I asked her WHY she was changing her night gown. She thinks about it a second then says "Well, I just came out of a very wet situation!!" Apparently she'd gotten the other one wet while cleaning up the water she'd spilled on the bathroom floor. My little one has a way with words!!!!

Our busy season winds down

So now wrestling is over. We are so proud that J.B. got to go to the state tournament last weekend. As he walked off the mat for the last time on Friday, my only thought was "That's the last time I'll get to watch him wrestle." He is done with athletics and a chapter of his life has closed. Soon a new one will begin as he graduates from high school in a few short months. He's been with us almost exactly six months now, and he's come a long, long way.

We have one more set of basketball games for Frank and Libby and we are done for the season. She woke up on Saturday not feeling so well. I called her Coach to ask if they'd have enough girls to play without her. She said she'd only have 5 or6 there, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and drove to Douglas for the game. She went to sleep in the car on the way over there, but she played hard once she got there. She made a great basket during the game. You could hear the "Swoosh" as it went in....nothin' but net. But she admitted on the phone to her Granny later that night that she'd intended to pass the ball to someone, and it just accidentally went into the basket!

After we finished her game, we got in the car and drove to Frank's game at Benton. We made it with 10 minutes to spare. I was in line at the concession stand buying hotdogs for the little girls. I turned around to give Libby her hotdog and noticed she was gone. Madi came out of the girls' bathroom and told me "Mom!!! Libby's in the bathroom throwing up!!!" Poor thing, I hadn't realized she was that sick.

I then had to round up the two little girls who'd just started eating their hotdogs, and take the girls all home. I didn't get to watch any of Frank's game. The little girls were mad they had to go home. They'd just gotten settled in to eat their hotdogs and play with their friends.

Sunday I snuck off from the kids and spent the day with my Mom and Dad painting their living room. We had a great day, its been a long time since I've spent any time with them without 287 kids crawling over us. My husband told me that I would not be able to get away without the kids knowing where I was going. But I simply told them that I had work to do. That satisfied them all except Libby, whom I think was a bit suspicious. She also noticed the paint on my knee later that night after I came home. I played dumb.