It's so great that Caden's 8!

My son, my oldest child, my baby, turned 8 years old today. Of course that means that we have a baptism on the way, so we are busily preparing for that as well as the big birthday party this Saturday. Yes, that's the ghetto cake for his actual birthday, but the party one should be much, much cooler.

Caden is so fantastic! Here's 8 things you might not know about him: 1. He doesn't like fruit, but he looooooves vegetables. 2. He's really into science and creating things. 3. He has a terrific sense of humor. 4. He's incredibly smart, and pulls the class averages in reading and math UP. 5. He loves to play Wii. 6. He can explain almost anything he's read. 7. He has a very sweet testimony of the gospel. 8. He is a wonderful, tender and kind older brother.

So there you go. 8 years in the making. I have the best kid! Love you Caden!

Winter quarter grades:

4.0
4.0
3.8

Not quite so stellar as last quarter, but not too shabby either. ;)

I miss being married

Do not confuse this with 'I miss my ex-husband' because it's not the same thing. There are certain things that you get with being married, no matter who the other person is:

- The Illusion of Help - someone else might do the dishes, or come up with dinner ideas, or unclog the toilet. Without a husband, you know those things are all on you. And honestly, they were anyway, but the illusion was there...

- A Two-Prong Attack Approach to Parenting - when the other prong is missing it's mostly you just stabbing at things and hoping something will connect. Although possibly it's a horrible idea to follow this whole stabbingatyourkids thought process too far...but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say which is that someone else might take a turn at playing disciplinarian. Although again, this was kind of illusionary for me. I suppose this could also fall under the Illusion of Help.

- People Looking at You Normally - Okay, I am the first to admit that I probably don't fall under the umbrella of normal, but I'm not way out in left-field....more standing just outside the umbrella getting dripped on and trying to keep at least my head partially covered. But I digress. People (especially in the church) look at you differently when you don't have a husband. Do they feel sorry for you? Are they worried that you'll try to steal their husbands? Do they want to fix you up? The answer is YES. To all of them. Sometimes one at a time and sometimes all at the same time. It's annoying people; please stop doing it. I am the same girl I was before, only now I have better self-esteem.

- The Illusion of Love - Obviously the love was no longer with us in the end or we wouldn't have ended up divorced. But the idea that someone was there that loved you more than anything in the world, that would do anything for you just to see you smile, and that you felt the same way about.....oh, what a priceless feeling. Unfortunately it wasn't there for quite a while, so I'm thinking pretty far back in the marriage to remember this. Fortunately, you don't have to be married to feel this one. Although there are some HUGE benefits to being married that you can't (uh, SHOULDN'T) get while single. And I miss that one, big-time.

Of course, there are more, and they cross my mind every so often when things happen. But I'm running short on time (like always) and honestly you should just be grateful I posted something at all (don't you love my new spunky attitude? ;) I have faith that someday I'll get remarried, and undoubtedly it will be fantastic; I know that Heavenly Father has someone wonderful in store for me. In the meantime I will continue to muddle through and find joy in the journey.

What's Up

* Taxes are done
* Almost to Midterms this quarter (this week and next depending on the class) and I have 4.0's in all my classes
* Caden's signed up for an after school science deal starting this month and running for 10 weeks. The boy looooooves him some science. He's also going strong with the piano lessons as well
* Still dating Marc ;) He met my parents this weekend and it went well
* Ryan gets the kids for Spring Break this year.....not looking forward to that
* Catching up with old friends has been tons of fun
* Aile is a chatterbox
* Lincoln's cheeks are thinning out and he finally looks like a kid instead of a toddler
* Made a really cool cowgirl themed cake and got paid for it (I'll post a picture soonish...it's on my mom's camera right now because...)
* I sold my camera because I want a purse camera instead of the bulky thing I had, but I haven't bought a new one yet
* Becoming heavily involved in the auction for Caden's school again this year, even though I've tried my best to be less involved. If anyone has something to donate I'll be happy to take it off your hands
* Some fun dates I've had include: antiquing in Coeur d'Alene, Dueling Piano bar, movies, dinners, desserts, and sometimes (most of the time) a combination of those
* I actually saw New Moon a couple of weeks ago and was surprised at how well they did in making it. Usually I hate movies of books that I love
* Lincoln and Aile's birthday's are coming up this month. They'll be 5 and 2 respectively.
* I need some suggestions about what to do with myself for three weeks this summer when the kids are gone. Reeeeeeally not looking forward to that. I'm thinking a trip somewhere will be in order....so where and when are the real questions there...

So that's what's up with us in a nutshell. Look for more posts coming......well, I guess don't LOOK for them. But they might pop up every so often and surprise you.

And if you want to know what's up you can always call me ;)

This means I get to enter 3 times ;)

I want to win Sue's Best Buy card because I need a new camera. Which is why I'm posting about her giveaway. Go read her here because she's really funny. But don't you dare enter the giveaway because it's mine. Mine mine mine mine mine!

My own little virtuoso

Caden has started taking piano lessons this year due to the generosity of an unnamed benefactor (thanks grandma and grandpa!). From the beginning his teacher has been very impressed with how quickly he is able to learn everything from the key names, to finger positions, to being able to play his songs so well, so quickly. Enough(ish) bragging.

At the beginning of December they had their Christmas Recital. Caden did a great job introducing his songs at the pulpit without any written notes about what to say and then very professionally sat at the piano and played. He did a great job, didn't miss any notes at all. I don't have video, but here's some pictures from that night:

Or, er, one picture. I've been trying to upload pictures to this post for three days and this is the only one that Blogger is allowing. Stupid blogger. Anyhoo... so handsome. Love you, Caden!

On the bright side, I guess I could win an award for it...

Every night at 7pm my ex calls to talk to the kids. He's fairly prompt and has hardly ever missed a day. I know all day long that he's going to call. As the day winds down and the kids and I are getting into our night time routine of dinner, cleaning up, pajamas and bedtime stuff I know he's going to call and I almost watch the clock waiting for it to happen.

Every other weekend my kids go to their dad's house. I miss them so much when they're gone. I purposefully pack my schedule when they're gone so that I know what to do with myself....because otherwise I'm a little lost without them.

But. I forget to call them at 7pm.

What? What kind of horrible mother forgets to call her children?

Wait, wait, hear me out. I think about it in the morning....but it's not time to call yet. And then I get busy. And then I think about it again during the day and make a mental note to be sure and call at 7pm....but it's still not time yet. And then I get more busy. And then I remember at 10:30pm that I haven't remembered to call my kids and that I am THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD!!!!! Which is how I feel. But probably not entirely true. I mean, I haven't eaten my offspring or anything, but still. HORRIBLE.

It happened again tonight. I have since learned that I can set an alarm on my phone to remind me to call them, which I have done....the tricky thing there is going to be remembering to set it when I drop them off for their weekends away. I think that my biggest problem is that it's just not a habit for me to MAKE the phone call. I am in the habit of RECEIVING the phone call, and honestly, how difficult is that?

"Whatever lady; excuses, excuses."

Yep, (nodding) I know. That's exactly how I feel.

Yep, I'm bragging

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

are pleased to announce the grades of their daughter

Valerie

for her first quarter back to school

after a 13 year absence...

4.0

4.0

4.0

That's right. She rocks.

;)

What it's like at our house...

My kids are enrolled in a Sarcasm Immersion program. It's called Life With Valerie For a Mother. What we do in this program is lie to the children all the time about stupid stuff that doesn't matter. They catch on fairly quickly. Let's take for example last night's dinner conversation:

Caden: Where's Grandpa?

Sarcasm Immersion Specialist: Mongolia.

Caden: What's he doing in another state?

Sarcasm Immersion Specialist: Mongolia's another country, not a state. It's kind of up by China.

Caden: Well, what's he doing in Mongolia?

Sarcasm Immersion Specialist: He had to get a key made.

Caden: Oh, I get it, because everything's made in China. Ha ha.


The best part was the 'ha, ha' at the end because it was a completely sarcastic 'ha, ha'. He knew we were pulling his leg, and he let us know in our own language. *sniff* kind of brought a tear to the eye. ;)

My children are learning well.....Thanks Sarcasm Immersion School!

I am thankful I am not cooking this Thanksgiving ;)