My Very Expensive $5.31 Mistake

Sunday the 20th we left for Chicago so we could wake up at a decent hour for our 9:14 a.m. flight to Cancun on Monday morning. We got back late Thursday night and Friday morning Ian and I ventured to Dollar General to replace our toiletries that were confiscated by TSA in Mexico. (All things that made it in to Mexico without a problem) While there, Ian fell in love with a little umbrella. He has been asking for one for a very long time....probably close to a year. I told him repeatedly that I absolutely would not buy an umbrella that day. Maybe it was the fact that our vacation had been anything but relaxing and didn't feel like fighting again (I'm working on a Cancun post) or maybe I was just very, very tired, but I eventually compromised and told him that while I would not buy the umbrella, I would front him the cash and when we got home we would get his money from his bank and he would pay me back. He thought this was awesome and I was feeling proud that I was teaching financial responsibility to my almost four-year-old.

So we came home, umbrella in hand, and all was well. Ian was happy to finally have his little orange umbrella with green dinosaurs all over it, and I was happy that Ian had just made his first purchase with his money. I still have the first thing I ever had to work for, and I keep it safely stored in my dresser. I remember seeing it in the store and knowing with every fiber of my being that I HAD to have it! My mom refused to purchase it but agreed to give me extra jobs in order to earn the money to buy it. I was about five-years-old at the time. I can't remember the jobs I had to do, but I absolutely remember the overwhelming happiness that accompanied the purchase of 1987s "must have." You want to know what it is don't you? Well......behold!

My Crayon Shirt!

I LOVED this shirt! I wore it ALL the time. When I first got it the colors were soooooooo vibrant, I don't know if you can tell in this picture or not, but it is now so thread bare that you can see the pattern of our comforter through the shirt. The little white oval where the colors are written were super glittery as were the white shapes in the color blobs. What five-year-old girl could have resisted this little Wal-Mart gem? Oh, and by the way, this is actually a women's shirt. That's right. I wore it as a night gown. And now that I'm 29 I find myself thinking, "What idiot designed this thinking, 'Women are going to LOVE this!'?"

I'll be honest, this thing is so worn it's really quite gross.

So I could see the excitement on Ian's face, and since I vividly remember being in that same position, I was so happy for him. But the happiness didn't last long. He was SO rough with the umbrella that every two seconds Cole or I was yelling, "You're going to break it!" or "You can't just shove it through a doorway. You have to close it first." After flipping the umbrella wrong side out, Cole finally shut him down and told him it was an outside toy only. Ian was crushed. However, not ones to stay put for long, we loaded into the car and drove to Flora Friday afternoon and he quickly forgot about the umbrella. We came back Sunday night, and he was reunited with his umbrella.

Here's where it gets nasty. Last night was a night of little sleep for Cole and I. Within minutes of Cole and I going to bed, we heard Eli's bedroom door open. This was the first time EVER that either of our kids has gotten out of bed during the middle of the night (11:30, so middle of the night for them). We laid there silently waiting to see what exactly was going to happen. Eli came into our room, clutching his Teddy of course, and walked over to our bed. His eyes were open, but he was not there. He stood by our bed for a couple of seconds and then tried to climb into bed with us. I gently said, "Eli, I need you to go back to your bed." He turned around, walked back to his room, and closed the door. He never said a word the entire time.

Cole and I laid there a while, and then started discussing how creepy the whole thing was. Cole said, "Of course Eli has to be our sleep walker. It couldn't be Ian who would roam around the house cleaning and doing laundry. It has to be the one who will ride a motorcycle into the house." After a few minutes we decided to go check on him. He was back in his bed still awake/asleep/I don't know what. Cole and I crawled back into bed, finally ready to get some sleep. But, right at midnight there was the first thunderclap of the night and immediately Ian and Eli were wide awake and screaming for us. They HATE storms. We decided not to fight it last night, so Cole went and grabbed one kid and they went to the couch. The other chum climbed into bed with me and snuggled in.

We drifted off to sleep and at 3:00 I woke up from a dead sleep when I realized I was soaking wet. It was like Gallagher had let himself into my bedroom and performed his entire routine and never gave me time to put on a poncho. Of course, this was the result of a full bladder and a very sound asleep preschooler, not a comedy/magic show, so I had to change all the blankets, his jammies, my jammies, and get us both settled back in. It was so gross and so disruptive. Grrrrr. Then, the boy in bed with me decided 5:15 was the perfect time to wake up this morning. Too. Early.

So this morning I was feeling like a really lazy mom, and I was ready to enjoy our first full day at home in nine days. I let the boys veg out in front of the TV and never felt the least bit guilty. However, half way through The Smurfs, Ian flung his new umbrella across the room, I have no clue what he was doing/attempting to do but the tip of it smashed right into the screen and totally screwed it up. I kept turning the TV on and off thinking that maybe, just maybe, the TV gods would smile upon me and correct this horrid mess. It never happened.

I finally mustered the courage to call Cole and tell him what had happened. He took it really well, as he usually does, but I do think that the advanced warning is a necessity for him. Best not surprise the man of the house with disasters. The news needs to be broken over the phone so the mind can process what to expect....like when I left the paint tray out while rocking Eli and Ian took it upon himself to paint the dining and living rooms. Uh, oops!

You can see the point of impact. There are horizontal lines running across the screen too.

I can not believe that damn $5.00 umbrella broke the TV screen. I'm ticked at myself for ever having agreed to buy it. I'm ticked that when Cole declared it an "outside toy" on Friday, we didn't take it out to the garage immediately. I'm ticked that out of everything it could have collided with in the living room, it had to collide with something of higher monetary value.

I think that secretly Cole might be a little happy because he has sort of been looking at larger TVs, and I kept saying, "There is nothing wrong with the TV we have. We should NOT buy a new one." I guess we'll see whether or not it bothers Cole enough to pull the trigger on buying a new one. Yesterday he said he was experiencing one of his once-every-four-months urges to buy something.

Playing Catch Up

It's been a while since I've updated the Anderson Family's activities, but here's a little run down of what's been happening.

**The boys spent four days at home! That, of course, means: Flora. Cole and I always say "home" and the boys FREAK OUT because they want to go to Flora and to them, home is Anytown. Part of this makes me sad because it's true that our lives are in Anytown and have been for almost six years, but I will always consider Flora to be "home." The boys and I were with Nina and Papa (my parents) on Thursday and Friday. It was fantastic! We got to see their aunts and cousin, Cambell. And aside from my mom trying to break into someone's house in order to pick Cambell up from the babysitter (nobody had told my mom that the babysitter moved!!!!) it was a perfect visit.

On Saturday the boys spent time with just Grandpa Marc in the morning. It was the first time Grandpa Marc was on his own with the chums, and they had a great time! They went to the park, they went out for ice cream, and by the time they were done....Eli passed out in the car within three blocks. The rest of the weekend Grandma K-leen was around, and they got to have their cousin Sidney come play too. When Marc and K-leen (this is Cole's stepdad and mom BTW) met us to return the boys, K-leen said that she was starting to be a little freaked out by how quickly the boys are growing up and would like to keep the boys at least one weekend a month over the summer because soon the boys are going to have activities of their own and they aren't going to get to see them as much as they want. Have I mentioned before that I have the greatest in-laws? Because I do! Cole and I joke that if K-leen could file for joint custody of our kids.....she would. Haha. (Don't get any ideas, Grandma.)

So while the boys were with the grandparents, Cole and I spent time by OURSELVES!!!! I thought it was an awesome weekend. Cole, however, was more anxious to get the boys back because he hadn't seen them since early Thursday morning. I didn't get my freedom until Friday evening so I was perfectly content with getting the little dudes back Sunday evening. I will say, our house was not meant to be silent and empty. This house was meant to have little feet running through it and sweet little boys resting snugly in their beds. I don't know what we could have possibly done all the time for the first two years of our marriage. I would say we wasted a LOT of time. I know that our lives are a million times better with babies!!!!

**This Tuesday I observed at Montessori. It was the most astonishing thing I have ever seen. I can't even describe what was going on. There were two through seven-year-old kids in the room. The volume of the classroom, with 20 people in it, was lower than the volume of my house. No joke. There was perfect order in the room. The kids instantly responded to every single request that was made. Everyone worked with such concentration.  I saw a five-year-old teaching a four-year-old how to calculate the square of a number! It was all so amazing. I observed for two full hours and could have stayed longer because I was absolutely mesmerized. I can not wait for Ian to start school there, and for anyone considering a Montessori education, I say: DO IT! It was fantastic. Oh, and I think we are going to do one of the Montessori day camps this summer for both of the boys.

**The boys are finishing "High School Preschool." It has been so fantastic for all of us. The boys adore their helpers and wake up asking about going to preschool. I am a happier mommy since I get a regular break during the day. So far the boys have had farm week, ocean week, jungle week, sports week, zoo week, and bugs and plants week. They have learned songs, made friends, made lots of crafts. It has been wonderful, and I will encourage the program to every single mommy of preschoolers that I meet.

**I have arranged with my sister to let my nephew come and stay with us for a couple of weeks this summer. The local community college offers all kind of great summer programs for kids my nephew's age, and he is going to take a summer class and stay with us! I'm SO excited about this!!!!! He hasn't decided which class he is going to take, but I'm pretty sure it will be one involving Legos, computer programming, or both. I am hoping to enroll the boys in a day camp during one of the weeks he is here so I can have some time with just him this summer. That time is getting harder and harder to come by.

**Cole and I recently had a major talk about my current career path and all of my apprehensions about going back to work, and sending the boys to a babysitter, and what's best for our family, and on and on and on. After a really, really great discussion, we've realized that our current plans are going to change. Before having Ian I was dead set on going into an engineering field. But since having Ian, and the Eli, ALL of my priorities have changed, and whether Cole will admit to it or not, he has the same apprehensions about leaving the boys in someone else's care that I have. So, things are still up in the air, but we are working towards a new plan, and I have felt as though an enormous weight has been lifted. I think Cole is happy too.

Future Aspirations

So recently I made a very, very, very exciting purchase! I bought the cutest shoes EVER!!!! Check it....

Oh, my gosh! Couldn't you just die?!?! They are so fab!!!!!! Anyway, I was SO excited about them that as soon as Cole and I were home I put them on and modeled them. Cole was mesmerized, as you can imagine. And as he watched in complete admiration, I began to feel that old desire to become.......a foot model!!!!

This might sound really weird, and for people who don't like feet, please closer your browser now, but I have always believed that I could be an amazing foot model! I first started considering joking about becoming a foot model in college, when I first realized that my feel were much more attractive than a lot of people's. First of all, they are very narrow (which is actually a gigantic pain in the @$$ when trying to buy shoes), and they are very long: I wear a 10 narrow. But, models are supposed to be tall and skinny so I think the same long and skinny standard probably applies to feet too.

So what would a normal person in my shoes (haha) do? Why, look for body part modeling representation of course! I googled "foot model" and found an unbelievable amount of information. I meet all the criteria to become a foot model: I have feet with even skin tone, they aren't too veiny (puke) or tendon-y (I don't know the right word), and are generally not stomach churning.

With everything I've got going for me, I feel like I need to submit foot shots! I've read that since foot modeling is such a niche market, that generally speaking, a foot model does not need to live in New York (shucks, this could have been my ticket to Manhattan) or Los Angeles. All of this can be done online. There are even guidelines on how to "pose" your feet so agencies can get all the visual information they need on how your feet look. Can you believe all this?! It's crazy! I think I'm going to go for it. What do I have to lose? I don't want to be sixty years old and thinking about how I never tried to become the Kate Moss of feet.