Teenagers

So, Mr. Perfect (who has requested to be called Mr. Chuck instead) has an amazing job.  He gets to work with teenagers.  At his current job, we have had the privlege of growing up with some of these teenagers and we have great relationships with them.

Today was one of those days when I got to spend my time with some of these teenagers.  Ellie lost a superbowl bet (GO PACKERS) to me which meant that she owed me some babysitting time, and lunch during a day of shopping.  So, today was our shopping day.  We went to the mall which is one of my absolute most favorite activities.  I LOVE trying on hideous cloths just for fun.  So, Ellie and I went into a store and we picked out dresses that we thought would look ridiculously not cute on me.  The first one I tried on was a black, strapless number with lots of ruching and hit about mid-thigh...the crazy thing...it was actually really cute.  Total backfire on the laughing at how ridiculous it looked but total self-esteem boost that I looked good in something like that. (More to come on the weight loss business after two more pounds.)

After our shopping adventure in which we did eventually find super distasteful clothes to try on and laugh at, we went and ate at our personal favorite...BW squared with Alex and her boyfriend Morgan (weird how usually Alex is thought of as a boys name and Morgan more thought of as a girls name).  Anyway then we all ran a couple random errands and ended up back at castle (our new house which looks nothing like a castle but is kind of fun to think of as a castle if you're four). 

Since it was once again a beautiful day, we washed the car which was a fabulous experience.  Morgan is afraid of water so of course Alex and Ellie kept teasing him about that while my little m&m ate the car wash soap (should I have called poison control on that and how is it that my daughter is the one to eat dirt, rocks, and soap and my son never did?).  My little man with the scraped knees ran around drinking out of the hose and peeing in the bushes.

Upon finishing the car Mr. Chuck and I went out to a delicious dinner on the Lake.  It was perfect timing.  We got the best table in the restaurant.  It was a corner table overlooking the Lake and a pier full of sailboats.  The lighthouse was just past the pier.  The sun glistened off the water as it began to set right as we were finishing our dinner.  It was kind of one of those magical events.

When we arrived back at castle both of the kids were as happy as clams.  Little man was outside playing with Alex and Morgan while m&m was being read to by Ellie.  After getting m&m to sleep I got downstairs only to hear the sounds of puking in my toilet.  My heart cringed.  Not again.  I can't take another night/day of PUKE.  Luckily it wasn't one of mine (well not legally).  It was Ellie.  Who knows what was wrong with her but ten minutes later she was back to making fun of Alex and Morgan who are going to have to have a "momma" discussion about appropriate public displays of affection while around my children, and me :).  Ellie also came into my laundry room and let out the loudest bit of gas I had heard in a long time.  Maybe she had too much gas built up and that's why she got puked.

All in all it was a fabulous day.  From shopping and looking amazing in a short, strapless dress to magical moments at the lake with my husband, to building my son a tent in our bedroom, joy and laughter were all around.  I love happy days!

PUKE!!!!

Yes this is going to be a post about vomit.  I know, gross but that's all I've seen for the past two days.  Anyone know when it is that kids stop puking in their beds and start puking in the toilet?  Thank God for my wonderful husband who actually cleaned up all of the puke from the beds while I had the pleasure of cleaning the puke out of my children's hair.  This was a first experience for me. 

In the past my son has woken up, got himself wrapped around me and then puked all down me, thus I was cleaning puke off myself.  This time however, he rolled around in his puke a little bit first, then came down and told me that he threw up in his bed.  Then I went to wake up my daughter and yes she had done the same thing!  GROSS!!!  It is way more difficult to clean chunky puke out of longer hair when it is caked in there (yes I am a TERRIBLE mom; which is causing me major anxiety, and had no idea that she puked until it was caked in her beautiful baby hair). 

The most important part to this story is all of the wonderful things I learned about dealing with puke and children:
1.  Kids get scared when they think they are going to vomit; thus they want to crawl up on their mom's lap for protection.  The cold, stinky toilet just isn't as comforting.
2.  Babies don't make noise when they puke so if you hear something even remotely odd....check immediately.
3.  Never believe your child when they say they aren't going to puke...it isn't that they aren't going to, just that they don't want to.

Lessons in parenting...gotta love not having an owner's manual!