Completely Random...

** I love real Christmas trees. I love the smell of them. I love the look of them. Sure, they require some vacuuming, but with 2 kids I vacuum a lot anyway.

** I just watched an episode of Sponge Bob that really made me chuckle. They went to Davy Jones' Locker. And it was literally a locker full of sweaty gym socks that belonged to Davy Jones from The Monkeys! And there he was, singing "Cheer Up Sleepy Jean".

** Kevin and Mason were driving somewhere the other day. I can't remember all of the details, but I believe Kevin made some sort of frustrated groan at someone in traffic. Then Mason raises his fist and says, "Same to you, pal"! He says he saw it on Scooby Doo.

** I'm SO not motivated to go back to school tomorrow. I just have to keep telling myself, "3 more weeks...3 more weeks".

** I am really in the mood for some sausage balls. (Joel, get your mind out of the gutter!) You know, the kind with cheese that you have for brunches....YUM!

** I've always kind of had a secret desire to be a storm chaser. The movie "Twister" totally fascinated me. I thought that would be SO cool!

** I am so impressed with Hannah. She loves to write! She writes letters and makes books all on her own. She's always sure to do the writing before she does the picture. She's just doing so well in school this year. She's really coming into her own.

** I'm in the need for a date night...or a weekend away...or maybe both.

** Kevin and I did our first Black Friday shopping the other day. We got a lot of great deals on some great things. We probably won't do it again, but it's going to be a great Christmas for the kids!

** I don't understand people who run. I just don't get it. I can understand Tae Bo and other work-out tapes, weight lifting, and even swimming. But not running. Rest assured, if you ever see me running, there must be somebody chasing me.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is right behind Christmas as my 2nd favorite holiday...a very close 2nd. I mean, football, family, good food, and fun...what's not to love?! So, in the spirit of this wonderful holiday, I am going to take a little time to give thanks.

**Thank you, Mom, for being the model of motherhood and for showing me what it means to be a Catholic Christian woman. I strive every day to be as good of a mother to my kids as you were to us.

**Thank you, Dad, for teaching me the value of hard work, loyalty, and integrity. I hope that I make you proud.

**Thank you, Josh, for not just being my brother, but also one of my best friends. I know I can always confide in you.

**Thank you, Jaime, for giving me the most wonderful Godson. You're doing a wonderful job with him and his brother...I don't know how you do it!

**Thank you, Brad, for always calling me on my birthday or Mother's Day. It's always such a nice surprise....one that I'm not very good about reciprocating.

**Thank you, Kevin, for loving me for me (despite how much I cry...and what I look like when I do)...and for so much more.

**Thank you, Hannah and Mason, for being you, for making me smile, and for filling my life with so much joy (and noise...and laughter).

**Thank you to my in-laws for welcoming me into your family from the very start. You have always gone out of your way to make me feel at home and loved. I am so blessed to be a part of your family (yes, even you Joel).

**Thank you to my friends (both old and new) for always being there for me, and helping me get through some difficult times. I know you've always got my back. (And thanks for all the laughs!)

**Thank you to my work family for always being supportive. I don't know how I would have made it through the last 3 years without such a positive and caring work environment!

**And thank you, God, for making all of this possible. I trust in You, and I know that You have a plan for my life and for all those in my life. You have provided us all with so much that we tend to take for granted. I thank You for the blessings that each day brings...that we all have ample food to eat...that we have places we call home...and that we have each other.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Songs That Make Me Smile...

Everybody has those songs that when you hear them, they brighten up your day. They might not necessarily be your favorites, but they're songs that you can at least sing portions of very enthusiastically. Maybe you don't know all of the words, but you don't let that stop you from rocking out.

I am going to list a few of mine, and I'd like you to do the same.

Good Vibrations (Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch)
Here I Go Again (White Snake)
No Rain (Blind Melon)
So Hard to Handle (Black Crows)
Cantaloop (Us3)
Vogue (Madonna)
What a Man (Salt n Peppa and En Vogue)
Hey, Ya (Outkast)
Sweet Child o' Mine (Guns 'n' Roses)
To Be With You (Mr. Big)
Party in the U.S.A (Miley Cyrus)
Whatever You Like (TI)
Izzo (Jay Z)
California Love (Tupac)
I'm Coming Out (Puff Daddy)

Now, this is just a drop in the bucket for me. My list could go on and on. I can't wait to hear some of yours!

:)

Just One of Those Days...

Oh, man...it was one of those days today! As much as I am a "go with the flow", "don't sweat the small stuff", "make every day a great day" kind of girl, today was just the opposite. Nothing in particular was too bad...just a general anti-Cakes kind of day.

S0 I'm going to use this blog as a venue to try to put a positive spin...a pro-Cakes take...on some of today's findings:

* Some times I just feel like nothing is ever enough...there's always someone somewhere wanting more.

...but hey, it's good to be needed!

* I'm still pretty sore today.

...but it's better than the alternative!

* Just when you get into the swing of things, something needs to change.

...but you can't grow if you can't change, right?

* My face has started breaking out again...darn this medication!

...but then who doesn't want to play connect the dots when they're talking to someone?!

* I'm too tired to write anything else.

...but you were probably tired of reading it anyway!


:) :) :) :)

The Ending of an Era...

My sweet Mason has been going to a speech class twice a week since September, and it is very bitter-sweet for me. He has always had many unique speech patterns that have made it nearly impossible for anyone other than family and close friends to understand him. He will be starting Kindergarten next year, and I knew that his friends and teachers would need to be able to understand him, so I enrolled him in speech classes. Thankfully, he's at a stage in his development that I think he was just ready to learn. And thankfully, he's been very responsive to it and most of his speech patterns have been corrected. However....this means that the OH SO CUTE way he used to talk is going away, too. I must confess...I'm really going to miss it!

This should help give you a picture of where he was:

F's were S's, C's/K's were T's, G's were D's, R's were (and still are) W's, the "oy" sound was "ay", and there were a few others.

~ fire fighter truck = sire sighter sut
~ kitty kat = titty tat
~ gross = dwoss
~ karate = tawate
~ Merry Christmas = Mawy Smissmis
~ stinky feet = stinty seet
~ grandpa = bampa
~ grandma = damma
~ happy birthday = happy busday
~ happy Thanksgiving = happy saintsdibbing
~ one, two, three, four, five = one, two, see, sore, size
~ kung fu = tun soo
~ cutting = tutting
~ gorilla = dowilla
~ tiger = tida
~ boy = bay
~ toy = tay
~ that toy is for boys = dat tay is suh bays
~ God = Dod

Now, he the only one that he really still has trouble with is the "r" sound...which is very developmental. He slips up once in a while on some of the others, but he's pretty consistent. I'm SO proud of him, but my baby's not such a baby anymore. It is truly the ending of an era!

I hope this made you smile to read, as much as it made me smile to write!

Bad Dreams...

* When I was growing up, I had a reoccurring dream every year. It had to do with me having a sleep over at my best friend Jenn's house. In my dream, it was a very spooky, old, 2-story house. Some how, she and her mom turned demonic and were trying to kill me. They chased me up into the attic. The only way out was for me to jump out the window...the random stained glass window. So, I did. I landed badly in their back yard, broke my legs, and couldn't get away before their possessed dog got me.

* When I was in high school, I had a dream that my family sent me away to a hospital for people who smiled too much. They used shock treatments to treat me. Every time I smiled, they'd shock me. So when I finally got back home, we were sitting around the table eating dinner, and everybody was laughing and having fun...except for me. So then (in unison) my family said, "Geez, Tracy, you should lighten up a bit...you're no fun anymore!"

* Mason once woke up screaming about dowillas (gorillas). After I calmed him down, I finally managed to convince him that there were no gorillas in his room. But then as I was leaving, he (still half asleep) said, "But Mommy, what about your woom?! The dowillas might twy to det you!" I had to bring him in to my room to check my closet and under my bed before he finally went back to sleep!

* Mason's most memorable bad dream was about a dragon. He crawled into bed with me, and was still kind of crying when he said, "Mommy, there was a dwagon twying to eat me. And he said I was a juicy one." He was so upset, but I had to keep myself from laughing. He still brings it up every once in a while. He'll say, "Hey, do you remember when that dragon called me a juicy one?" I'll say, "yes". He'll say, "Yeah, that sure was scary."

* Kevin has very realistic dreams that used to send him into a panic attack. One time, he even hauled off and punched me in the face in the middle of the night. I woke with tears in my eyes, yelling at him...he was still asleep! I asked him the next day what he was dreaming about. He said that he got into a fight with some guys at the grocery store...random!

* Hannah and Mason both had bad dreams on Tuesday. Mason had people chasing him and a shark trying to eat him. But it was OK, because he "just closed the shark's mouth and got away". Hannah was taking a walk when a tornado came, and no matter how fast she ran, it would always get her.

* I've been having some bad dreams, myself. Every time I go in for a bone marrow biopsy, I have bad dreams and restless nights the few days before. Well...it's that time again. I go in tomorrow. Nothing out of the ordinary, just those typical "no anesthesia, jumbo needles, full sized construction-style drills" kind of dreams. Then, after it's done I can't sleep comfortably. (I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep by Sunday!)

Rip-off or Worth-while...

So, today was our school's fall festival, "Mav Fest". I spent a total of $40. All-in-all, that's not bad. But what did that $40 get us?

*1 bag of cotton candy
AND
*12 prizes ($.50 cent toys)

Yep, that's all we got to come home with.

But on the bright side, I think the kids had fun. There was a velcro trampoline wall:





There was a super sweet rock wall:



And there was NO pouting...

...yeah, right!

So, are you a glass half full ($40 for a night full of memories) or a glass half empty ($40 for a snack and a handful of crappy toys) kind of person?

Me, I choose the memories...it was worth-while!

You Might Be Hormonal If...

...you want to line up a whole class of 2nd graders for a good slapping, for no particular reason!

...you don't want to do anything but gripe, and the only thing you can think of to gripe about is that you can't think of anything to gripe about!

...you cry before the words of a song even start, simply because you know what's coming!

...you are in no mood to cook dinner, but you could easily bake a delicious dessert!

...you can go from laughing and joking to having your feelings hurt in the blink of an eye and not even know why!