Confusing Acronyms

A couple of weeks ago, Chloe's sweet little friend came back from her vacation with a gift for Chloe. She handed her the gift bag and they both excitedly sat down on the stairwell to open it. Chloe pulls out this adorable little pin with the letters B-F-F on it. She looks at me and says, "What does it say Mommy?"

Since I'm so experienced in worldly matters, I quickly come to her rescue and announce for all to hear, "Sweetie, B-F-F stands for 'best female friend'. " Chloe's look of confusion vanished and I continued on with, "Wasn't that so sweet of your friend to think of you?"

Meanwhile, friend's Mom and Chuck are rolling on the ground in laughter. I couldn't imagine what would be so funny. Then Chuck kindly tries to correct my ignorance by saying, "Uh, Baby, I think it means 'best friends forever'." And I'm like, "Seriously?" And he's like, "ya". Oops. This whole time anytime I heard that acronym, I thought that's how people were deciphering between best female best male friend. What do I know?

Chloe, ever ready to believe her mother decides, "I like best female friend better, Mommy". Of course she does. She wants to save her mother from embarrassment. I had already gone thru all the shades of red there were.

The moral of the story, actually there are two: 1. don't open your mouth (Cori) unless you really know what you're talking about and 2. acronyms are really confusing. I'm so glad I never joined the military where it seems every other word out of their mouths are an acronym. I would be in a perpetual state of confusion. Naïveté was always my strong point growing up.

This also reveals another side of me: I'm not up with the whole texting thing. If I were, I would have a handle of some of these teeny-bopper phrases. LOL!

Hangman

Playing hangman with a 5 year old who has a very shaky (at best) grasp of the english language in regards to spelling is not an activity I would recommend for the faint of heart (or the impatient). This same 5 year old hates to lose. Insists I draw hair and pants on the 'hangman' before he actually goes down so as to give her more time to guess. She also tends to want to quit before the game is officially over so she can't say she lost. She has a firm grasp of phonetic spelling and often adds way to many lines when it's my turn to guess. She also has selective hearing and 'claims' she didn't hear me when I said a letter she later writes on her spaces. This is an exercise in futility, kinda like playing 'I Spy' in a moving car.

Looking Cool

I now know what it means to be 'cool' in the eyes of my boys. Today I chose to wear yoga like pants and a sport shirt, you know, those new fangled kinds of shirts made out of that tight, stretchy material that makes it look like you just went to work out but didn't. I was waiting for the boys outside of school where I always wait. Bennett almost walked right past me. Once he recognized me he exclaimed, "Mom! You look cool...and pretty...but mostly cool. And you're wearing a blue shirt! Cool!" This was accompanied with lots of rubbing of my shirt and staring starry eyed up to me. My self esteem just received a major boost. Then Gavin comes sauntering along. Amazingly enough, he too notices my 'different' attire (I'm more a skirt and t-shirt type person). His comment: "This shirt makes you look like you just exercised. Does it make you want to run?" Excellent. If I can make my own son think I was exercising, then any random passer by might be fooled as well. Because that is the whole reason behind the outfit...only make them think you like to exercise...but don't. Looking cool feels good, I tell you! Plus...it would take a whole lot more than a cool shirt to make me want to run.

Secret Mission

Notice the white square amidst the waning yellow leaves in the tip-top of the tree. The note has been impaled onto a branch for safe keeping. Yes. It is there on purpose. The AT&T Secret Service club put it there. Here's how the saga begins: It's a windy, arctic day (for Texas that translates into at least 40 degrees). The boys are in 'Section 1' of their little hide-out (whatever that means, Gavin just told me that's where they were), when low and behold, they spot an ED (evil-doer) implanting something into our mailbox. I'm glad they are keeping an eye on the neighborhood. Agents 2, 7 and 9 stealthily sneak over to the mailbox, retrieve the aforementioned item shoved in there and bring it back to the safety of the nuclear power plant they lovingly refer to as their 'fort'. Thank goodness each agent is an adept reader. They translate the message and decide what action to take.

Agent 7 (Gavin) runs inside with the speed and agility of a turtle and asks his mom for a hole punch. Agent 7's mother is a little confused by such a request, but is also thankful for the extra security around the perimeter of the house, so she acquiesces and hands the hole punch over to the agent. All three agents then proceed to climb up into Station 2 (I'm assuming that's the tree since that's where they all were). With a beautifully fashioned hole now in the white document retrieved from the mailbox, the agents decide which branch they should place the notice on for 'safe keeping'. It is fall. All the leaves are falling off the tree. It is windy. I'm not sure any of these thoughts crossed through the agents' minds. They were simply thinking of a quick and safe place for the note that contained their next (actually, first) secret mission.

Later on that same night, Agent 7 confides in me what all the panic was that was transpiring outside prior to sunset. As the story goes...it wasn't an ED afterall, it was just a boy out putting fliers in mailboxes advertising his lost cat. The boys couldn't help but jump on the chance to make this their first official secret mission. Evidently, this created alot of excitement in the group. There wasn't time before dinner and dark to begin their investigation but they sure had time to come up with a plan...and that they did. The first order of business was to keep the mission note in a safe place so they could find it again. (Just between us...it wasn't in the tree when I checked this morning. I sure hope they memorized it).

Gavin confided that really wanted to use a voice altering machine (like we have one lying around the house for such occasions) and call the number on the piece of paper and inform them that a couple of secret agents would indeed find their beloved pet. I gently explained that we might not want to mislead or offer false hope to people who are especially sad right now. He seemed to contemplate that and accept it as truth.

And then...that was all. The mission is in the 'cold case' file right now. Nothing has been done to advance its progress as I have been witness to. The secret agents are currently using their precious daylight time on the Wii for their allotted 30 minutes they have left for the week. Any new or further developments will be posted as it seems I have become the official spokesperson of the AT&T Secret Service club.

Thank Yous

I have always thought I'm the luckiest mommy in the whole world...but now I have proof. My sweet children keep writing me thank you notes and whispering sweet thanks yous in my ear just for me doing what I love to do. Everyday I put a little note in the boys' lunch boxes...so Gavin writes a note to thank me for the note. Everyday I get the joy of spending time with Chloe teaching her...so Chloe makes a precious little card thanking me for being her teacher. Bennett prefers to tell me and show me how he feels...so at night, right before bedtime while we're cuddling, he rubs my hands and feet and tells me how much he loves and appreciates me. Where oh where do I get these amazingly thankful kids from??? It blows me away. Our thankful snowball just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Every morning Gavin thanks me for making his lunch. Bennett thanks me for cleaning the house so nicely. Chloe thanks me for having a tea party with her. I love to do those things...but to have my children come up and thank me out of the love of their hearts out of their own free will melts my heart each and every time and reminds me how thankful I am to be their Mommy!

Whether or not this continues into the teenage years does not concern me. I know their hearts and they know mine...that's enough to take us through the peaks and valleys of hormones (mine and theirs). I will be treasuring each and every handmade note the rest of my life!

Cooter and Ma

Should adults have this much fun dressing up?

The Door

This is Chloe's door. Notice the beautiful entry rug. It is her very own latch-hook creation. After all, don't rugs go in front of doors? I also especially love the multiple signs and artwork adorning the door. The silk flower on the door knob really gives it that extra something special, don't you think?

The (Secret) Club

Most people might view these transformers that were discreetly placed right next to our property line as an eye sore or an inconvenience. To be honest, it doesn't really bother us...we chose to see the huge field that extends out beyond that, all the trees and the creek behind us instead of all the junction boxes. My brother jokingly refers to this mess of electrical boxes as our 'nuclear power plant'. Perspective is everything, right?!


Well, you would have thought we had gold sitting right outside of our house the way the boys and their neighbor friend see it. This little area has transformed (no pun intended) into "The AT&T
Super Secret Spy Club". You've got to give them points for originality and creativity with the name. And here are its members. They like to take picnic lunches out here, they talk 'strategy' out here and when not in use as a secret club, it moonlights as a Jedi base during those long, arduous light saber battles that drag on all afternoon after school. I've even witnessed them playing a board game or two out here. The pose is just for the picture. They take this club seriously. They are always 'hidden' (as much as you can be out in the open) when in their club. Their favorite way to 'hide' is often to lay down flat on your stomach and blend in with the grass or concrete as much as you can.

As you can see, there is a large field that dips down to a creek where all the spy business is usually carried out. They just convene for meetings and snacks in the "AT&T Super Secret Club". Did you know they even created ID badges? This club is top-notch. However, it is a very bad day indeed when the AT&T guys have to come and actually work at this transformer station. It is at that time when the boys come inside the house and check the spread sheet they created for alternate play activities. What a club!

Medicine For The Soul

I have officially become the fourth victim in this house that has succumb to the dreaded swine flu. Thankfully, we've all lived through it and gotten medicine quickly (thanks to our wonderful pediatrician) which mercifully limits the number of days you're down and out.

I "called in sick" to my job this morning. My alarm normally goes off at 6:30am. But this morning, as I was turning it off, I announced to Chuck that I am officially calling in sick today. There's no way I can get out of bed!

Needless to say, the kids were beside themselves. Mommy is almost never sick - especially not sick enough to not come out and say "good morning" to everyone. They took it upon themselves to make me better no matter what. They just couldn't sit around, they felt the need to DO something. Thus the array of beautiful love notes on all kinds of media:

Bennett marches into my room as soon as he saw the door was opened and immediately tapes this to my headboard. It says: "Thanks for the pillow, it made me feel like you where there with me. Love Bennett". Last night, Bennett also went to bed sick. I gave him one of the decorative pillows on my bed to comfort him. This was only a return gesture for a favor Bennett had previously done for me the last time I was sick. He gave me one of his favorite stuffed animals for me to sleep with. I made him a thank you note telling him how special that was and he taped it on his wall. I guess he wanted to do the same in return.

No sooner had he finished taping that above my head, when in walks Chloe and gently places a little note into my hands and lays next to me and says, "I didn't know where you were?" The note reads: Hi Mommy I hope you feel better soon love Chloe."

I haven't even been awake for 10 minutes and I can feel the love. They want to will me better with acts kindness and love. As I zombie walk out of the bedroom, headed for the kitchen, Bennett tells me to come see what he made for me in the gameroom. He has apparently also written more love notes for me on the whiteboard. It reads: It doesn't matter if you're still in your pajamas or not. I still love you. And: It doesn't matter if you look pretty or not, you always look pretty to me. Okay! How can I not feel instantly healthy after that big boost of love?!

It seemed to work for a while. I had enough energy to paint pictures with them and do a little school with Chloe. But by lunch time I was exhausted again. So Bennett went to work on this little Powerpoint for me:
And as if all this wasn't quite enough. The kids decided that a nice make-over at the end of the day would be an excellent way to finish their effort in the 'Pursuit of Making Mommy Better' day.
It was truly a joint effort...and I have to say, don't I look so much better?!

I should be ready to take on the world tomorrow. My love bucket is overflowing!

Gavin's Experiment

Here's a genius idea: tell your mom you want to do an experiment to see if any of the kids will notice that you're wearing the exact same clothes to school that you wore the day before. This way, you can get away with not putting your clothes away at night or have to wake up and use the massive amount of brain power early in the morning required to pull together a new outfit. There's no way mom would ever think of impeding scientific research. Of course I'm a sucker for a well thought out plan. And its all in the name of 'science'. How could I say no? He knows my weaknesses and he's getting better at using them for his advantage. I just hope his hypothesis yields his desired results. My guess: the girls will notice my son in the exact same clothes as yesterday (although, to his credit, he did put on a fresh change of underwear and socks) = the boys will not. And the teachers, well, I'm not sure they'll appreciate my son's scientific research as much as I do.

Favorite Quotes

I LOVE to read! That might be a slight understatement. I LOVE to read ALOT! So many different types of books. But I don't have a great memory. I can't remember details about a book after I've read it. That's why I was surprised that these particular quotes have stayed with me. I think of them often on a daily basis. These were powerful books. I learned so, so much from the characters in them. I like to think of them as friends.

Since these quotes are so much a part of me, I wanted to leave them written down for my children to go back and read one day when I'm not here and they would like to know 'what made mom tick'. Many different things inspire me...but these quotes are special and close to my heart.

1. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - "I'm in the Lord's hands," said Tom, "nothin' can go no furder than He lets it;" The entire book is amazing, but this tiny quote sums up the premise by which Tom lived and inspired so many around him.

2. "The Count of Monte Cristo" - "Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death...in order to know how good it is to live."
This book drew me like a moth to a flame. There are so many lessons in it, but this one grabbed my attention. So often we want a way out of the 'hard time' in our life. But it is in those hard times when our faith is renewed, grown, awakened and without it, we would never really know how beautiful life is and what a gift it is.

3. "Les Miserables" - Javer: "It is a pity the law doesn't allow me to be merciful." The Bishop: "Jean Valjean, my brother you no longer belong to evil. With this silver I have bought your soul. I have ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God." These two quotes aren't exactly in the book, they're actually from the movie. But...the idea is written out in several paragraphs in the book and the movie screenwriters captured the emotion and intensity of what was written in the book, beautifully with these two quotes. The idea of grace and mercy is so foreign to so many. There are people all around us everyday who need touches of grace in their lives, yet also don't want it because they can't reconcile the gift that it is with who they feel they are what they deserve. Love always wins out!

Chloe's Revelations

Chloe has had two major revelations this week, thruths that God has shown her directly. She has articulated them so eloquently.

1. As we were driving around together she tells me, "Mommy, you know whenever something wonderful happens to me sometimes I think I'm dreaming." Me too, honey...me too!

2. As I'm tucking her in at bedtime, "Mommy, I know what Jesus did for me." What sweetie, what did He do? "He died on the cross for my sins so that I can go to heaven and be with Him. It is a gift He gives me." Wow, honey, how did you know that? "I just know in my heart. " I'm so glad God is teaching you these things! He's doing a better job than I ever could.