Happy Friggin Birthday

I realize that this is going to sound really whiney, mopey and just plain pathetic. 

I actually hate what I am about to tell you because if I heard anyone else be this way I would think they were acting like a self centered baby.  But… it is how I feel.

My birthday is December 23^rd…yep, two days before Christmas.  I have always hated my birthday.  As a kid, nobody would come to my party, they were too busy with other holiday stuff.  I never got to bring cupcakes to school or have pool parties.  I understand saying this now, as an adult, it sounds really lame…but when I was a kid I felt like I was getting the shaft.  Sharing a birthday with Jesus is just not easy.

When I grew up (if I ever really did) I decided that birthdays are for kids and I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it or expect anything from anyone.  Fine, right? 

No.

I make an effort to make birthdays a BIG deal for my significant other, friends, my kids, coworkers etc.  It is the one day a year that is YOUR day.  It should be special dammit!

Even though I tell myself not to care…I still do. I can’t help it.

Last year, I was in a relationship with someone and he made it a point to make my birthday super fun and special.  It was a really nice and rare treat. 

This year…I am not in a relationship.  I just started dating a guy a couple weeks ago but we won’t even see each other on my birthday, we both have our kids.  My parents offered to let my kids spend the night so that I could go out…but where am I going to go?  To dinner alone?  No thanks! 

Today at work, they had a potluck for me and a couple other coworkers that have birthdays too.  Usually, our work potlucks are insane.  SO much yummy stuff…it is a sure fire gastric bomb…but totally worth it.  Today,  yeah… not so much!  Such a dud. Half of our dept is already out on vacation and only 3 people brought stuff…stuff I don’t really like.   I ended up walking over to the cafeteria and getting myself a breakfast burrito. 

I’m sorry to be whiney about this.. it really is stupid…but it just sucks.  I didn’t even have any expectations about the silly potluck...but it was just soooo lame.  I hate feeling let down.

So yeah…all you non birthday enthusiasts…kiss my ass!!  I am going to throw a fun ol’ party at my house for me and my kiddos tomorrow.  I will make my own cake, blow up my own balloons and sing to myself.

Shit…if you can’t count on anyone else…you should at least be able to count on yourself right?

Happy almost 37^th Birthday to me.  BLAH!

Howdy Buckaroo

Three year old boys are adorable a lot of fun.  

My little guy LOVES all the typical boy stuff:  Fire trucks, Firemen, Garbage trucks, police cars, Cowboys and any kind of tractor or machinery. 

He also loves anything from the Disney Toy Story movies. 

He has decided that he wants to be a cowboy for Halloween this year.  That works for me because he was a cowboy 2 years ago and the vest was too big then and fits perfectly now.  I’m all about saving money. (yes, I’m a cheap ass.. so what!!)

I was keeping an eye out for cowboy boots online and I fell in love with a super cute pair of John Deere boots that I came across.  These boots for little boys were $80+ brand new!!   There is NO WAY that I am going to spend that much money on shoes for my children….let alone boots mainly for a Halloween costume.  I looked for them on Ebay and BINGO.. I found a cute “pre-worn” pair in the next size up from what he wears now!!   I showed him the picture and told him that I ordered them and they would be coming in the mail soon. 

Waiting a week for something to arrive is an eternity to a 3 year old. 

Yesterday was the day that the box showed up in the mail.  He was so excited and I could not open that box fast enough.  He was flapping (his excited tick) and smiling from ear to ear when he saw them.  Since they are “pre-owned” they were already perfectly worn in.  He yanked off his own shoes and stepped into his new boots and wanted to go outside and ride his bike…at night.  It didn’t matter that he was wearing shorts and a too small T-shirt with boots.  This kid was happy and that made Momma happy.  I think even his big Sister that despises his existence was a little bit happy for him…it was too cute…how could you not be? 

He wore them compete with his new “Woody” hat and belt all night until bedtime.  He asked to sleep with them but I assured him they would be just fine staying downstairs with the rest of our shoes.

He woke up early today and guess what he did first thing….yep.  slipped on his boots with his PJs.   It is so stinkin’ cute and just melts my heart.  That’s a big deal for this heartless Ice queen robot! 

Here are some pictures so you can enjoy the cuteness of the new boots too!  I’m also including more cuteness…my little cowboy from 2 Halloweens ago.

Feast……..



The new awesome boots!



Watching a movie and riding his horse.
(notice what Big SIs is doing in the background?)



rocking the hoodie and the Cowboy getup...Riley style. 
**rolls eyes**



Speechless

I have not blogged in weeks. 

Things have changed and my life has gotten even busier.  I wish I had time to write...or even something exciting to write about...but I'm stuck. 

I could just post pictures...but that is only appealing to me : )

I do have to write about my Internet dating experiences ...but I need to find the time to actually sit down and write it..but it seems almost irrelevant since I quit the dating world.  whatevz. 

Sorry, If anyone is actually reading this..I'll be back with something worth reading at some point.... maybe.

Sneaky, hilarious bananas

Brilliant and abso-friggin-lutely hilarious!!  This made me laugh so hard I just had to share it!!! 

Feast on this:   Listen to the bananas by the Bloggess. 

and then, The genius over at Metal Poo tried it and the result with his girlfriend is hysterical  Chiquita Knows ALL


I cannot wait to do this to Lilly.  It will blow her mind!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

now...what to put on my bananas.......?

My glimpse of a “normal” life

This weekend was just like any ol’ weekend. We didn’t have any plans or anything special to do. What made my weekend so fabulous (in my mind) was that Lilly acted like a “typical” 7 year old girl. That may not seem like a big deal to some people…but when your child doesn’t usually act like a “typical” child…it’s pretty dang awesome when they do.

Last week I got a new bike for myself. It’s nuthin fancy, just an inexpensive beach cruiser from Wal-Mart. I put it together and wanted to ride bikes with the kids. Unfortunately, the bike that I got for Riley months ago off of Craigslist needed to be fixed first. The back tire has a flat and needs to be repaired/replaced. His bike has a bunch of plastic molding all over it to make it look like a motorcycle/dirt bike…so getting the tire off was no easy task.
We made a trip to the store and bought a patch kit. After several failed attempts to patch the leak, we went back to the store and bought a new tube instead. Changing a bike tube/tire is the biggest PITA ever..but I got it done. I put the tire, molding and training wheels back on the bike, but then realized the chain was not in the right place and I had to take everything off again and figure out how to re-attach the greasy, nasty chain. After that was done, and the wheel and training wheels were put back on, we took it outside and tried it out.
I realized that the training wheels seemed too big for the bike. I tried to adjust them, but it just wouldn’t work. Riley was sad and I was beyond frustrated . This whole process took a couple of hours.

Lilly came up to me and said, “I’m so sorry Mom!” and she gave me a hug.
I asked her what she was sorry for and she said, “You have worked so hard on trying to get Riley’s bike fixed today so we could ride together and it still doesn’t work. I feel bad for you.”

*jaw drops*

My daughter just displayed the biggest amount of empathy I had ever seen. She not only cared but was sad for me and for Riley. She HATES her brother…so this is a HUGE deal.

There were lots of other moments that day where I asked her to put something away, or help with me something and she HAPPILY cooperated. Normally, she would ignore me, whine and complain or have a meltdown.

She was also (for the most part) nice to her brother most of the weekend. She helped him put his sweater vest on for church and even brushed his hair. They played together most of the weekend. Every act of kindness from her just BLEW ME AWAY.

Of course I praised her on how sweet she was being and how proud I was of her. I gave her tons more hugs than usual and she accepted them all without being a grouch about it.

Sunday, I wanted to show Riley this cool old train that you can walk around on and look at up close. Riley loves trains…Lilly does not.
Lilly was so thrilled and excited to climb up on the train and even posed for pictures!
(Lilly usually DESPISES and does not tolerate pictures)

Riley was TERRIFIED of the train. Poor kid is also afraid of loud noises and things unknown. He thought the train was going to start moving or make loud sounds so he screamed his little head off and wanted to get back in the car. Poor thing!
Normally, Lilly would call him names or say rude things about him being a “big baby”…but she didn’t. She tried to reassure him that the train was really cool and it wasn’t scary. *WHO IS THIS KID??*

After that, we hung out at home, went to the park, watched movies and got ready for bed. The majority of this time, Lilly was sweet, cooperative and a joy to be around.

I am not expecting things to be this way all the time. It could have been a total fluke, or maybe the meds she started over a month ago are actually starting to kick in. Who knows. All I know is that my Lilly CAN be a sweet, empathetic and happy little girl and that gives me hope.

The PITA bike

Riley is telling Lilly to stay away from the scary train

My pretty girl

see...she is smiling!!

Me and Riley.  Notice how he wont take his eyes off the scary train?

Mr. Muscles at the park



Lilly pointed out this cloud to me.  She called it the "Swan Cloud"



Excuse me while I throw a hissy fit

Is it not possible for my kids to be civil to each other for FIVE flipping minutes?

They argue, whine and torment almost all the time. Mainly, it is Lilly being horrible to her brother... but he knows how to push her buttons too.

Today, my stomach was not feeling right for most of the day. Let's just say I made quite a few restroom trips today.
Anyway, tonight I felt kinda bad again, like either my ovary exploded or my appendix is unhappy. I was in the bathroom less than two minutes and I hear Lilly yelling at Riley. I open the door and yell back that if she yells or bothers him ONE. MORE. TIME.... the movie goes off and she goes right to bed.

30 seconds later, Riley is screaming and crying at the top of his lungs and running towards the bathroom. Lilly is yelling that she didn't touch him. (Really? Yeah right)
He now has a cut below his eye and is a hysterical mess. Reminder, I am still otherwise occupied in the loo.
I yell out to Lilly (over Riley's crying) to turn off the movie and go to her bed. She starts screaming and crying too and is making a million excuses.

I try to get Riley out of the bathroom so I can complete my duties and get out of there. But he won't leave the room. I finally get him outside the door and I close and lock the door. This sends him into a total nuclear meltdown. He is crying so hard that he's practically hyper-ventillating and kicking the door.

This whole fiasco has ended my Mommy duty for the day. I am done.

Did teeth get brushed? NOPE.

Did we read bedtime stories? NOPE.

Did we say prayers? NOPE.

Do I care? Well, just a smidge.

There are times, such as these, that I would actually like to still live with my exhusband (gag)... just so I can poop in peace on ocassion.

FML

My Aspie hates rules!

Well, so much for my idea of making our own Family Rules sign (see last Friday's post).

Tonight, the munchkins and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up the bike I ordered for myself online. It is a cool beach cruiser and it was extremely inexpensive.... so I had to have it. Thiey offered free Site to Store shipping so we just had to pick it up an they put the Giant box in my car. Easy peesy.

Anyway, while we were waiting for the lady to get the box from the back, I saw a Family Rules sign sitting right there on the counter. I excitedly told Lilly that I wanted to get one of those for our house. She started reading it...then stopped. She looked at me with her familiar grouchy stink-face and started reading it again... in her own lovely way.

*sigh*

Yep, that's my sweet little girl. *insert eye roll*

But wait, aren't Aspies supposed to love rules?  I guess only the ones that are logical.

Maybe I'll make my sign anyway.. even if she thinks it's stupid.

Neener Neener.