parents

So last Sunday (yesterday) my folks had their 35th Wedding Anniversary. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a "gift giver". I like giving gifts, getting gifts, sharing gifts, but I didn't get my parents anything. (Sorry) But I would like this to be somewhat of an "ode" to them, because, you know what? I really do like them... A lot.

I never thought about parents as much as I do now, now that I am one. Before - my folks were - well, my folks. Always will and always have loved them. Of course when I was 15 I knew more than them. And now that I'm a parent myself - it's all different.

Apparently the point of being a parent - is to hopefully be a better parent than your own right? It may not always be easy to do. But my folks and I have discussed this before. As a parent, you take the best from your own parents, use it, discard the not-so-great-, and move forward, do better, and try your best.

I have to admit - that the reason I am the way I am, is mostly due to the fact that I did have great parents. (and still do) Let me share some of my favorite child rearing practices my parents took part in.

They: (either my mother or father or both)
Took us to Disneyland a lot. (thank you)
Didn't keep too close an eye on us. (thank you)
Let us have unlimited TV access. (I don't know if I should thank you on that one)
Taught me to "Make nice"
Made sure things were nice and tidy. (or pristine for that matter)
Made me ham and eggs, just the way I liked em.
Took us out. A lot.
Let me take ballet.
Let me play piano.
Let me wear cowboy boots for a very long time.
Got us front row seats. (thanks mom)
Taught me to pray.
Took me to parties. (thanks mom)
Let me play outside alone.
They didn't let me have a dog.
Then... they let me have a dog.
I got to eat a lot of sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. (thanks for the cavities)
Took many pictures. So many pictures in fact, that it's hard to forget things. (Good thing they are all things worth remembering)

Of course there's more. And my mom and dad are both very different, and did many different things for me and my sister. I'm glad they are different, and don't think alike, cuz then things wouldn't have been so interesting.

It was always fun to say I had a saint for a mom, and a heathen for a father. Maybe I wouldn't say he's much of a heathen these days though, maybe more of a... well, I'll just say he's a nice guy.

So, my point is... I'm glad they're still here. I'm glad my kids have them too. I'm glad they get to read books to my kids, and play super friends with them, and that they don't have to work their butts off anymore - at least not in an office. I'm glad that they can still drive. I'm glad they can still kind of see and hear (somewhat), because my kids are definitely worth looking at and listening to. I'm glad that I had kids - more than anything because I think there comes a point in time where you start to forget what it is to be a kid. And even though those memories of being a kid are so vivid, you can't really feel them anymore. Then, you have a baby, have to raise a kid, and it brings it all back. You relive the fun, the feeling that you can do no wrong, and you get to watch these tiny humans smile and laugh, and all you want to do is protect them and help them enjoy the time in their life that goes by too quickly. You try to spare them any pain, because you know by now, most things are just NBD. So you have fun. Cuz it's all that matters. Fun... well... to me at least... fun matters. It may not be everything - and sure things get serious. People get rude. Parents get weird. We get mad. Kids get sad. People die. Friends move. Boys stink. Girls cry. You know... all that fun stuff. But as I always tell my buddies... we can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we handle what comes our way. So, it's much more fun... to have fun.

Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad. It's fun to have fun. So go out today and have some fun with each other. I love you.

So Cute

I mean ... Effie is so cute. Even today Celia said "Mom! I'm CUTE!!! But.... Effie is REALLLLLLYYYY cute." She's so right.

Effie squints her eyes when she talks, and scrunches her cheeks because she's so serious and adamant about what she has to say.

She calls my folks "Yamma and Yampa".

She makes specific requests to wear her: Batgirl Ballerina Dress. Heart Tights. Bella wand. Pink Cape. Tap shoes 3 sizes too big without laces. Red headband.

When she wakes me up in the morning, she shuts her eyes real tight and smiles so big. That's it. She just sticks her big toothy smiley face in mine, until she jumps up and shakes the dust outta the curtains to announce the sun rise. She is so sweet. She holds Celia's hand till she wakes up, and if Effie wakes her up, she's always happy and says "Awwww....Effie... I love you!". (But if I wake her up for school she says "I'm too cozy and still sleepy")

Effie dances on the chair if she likes her food, and throws her hands up then alternates - right hand up, then right hand down with left hand up, and so on.

When we play hide and go seek, if you are hiding with Effie, she'll always give away the hiding spot. She says "we're hiding in the... i.e. shower!" She always blows a cover.

Lately she says things like "Do you think my yamma misses me?" "Can we watch da mobie I was cwaywing for in the morning?" "Did I alwedy have my's Birtday take?"

I mean... I can't stand it. The 9 and a half pound little big child I gave birth to that caused me so much trauma for 16 hours happens to be such a cutey. I am actually glad I rarely recall the day I expelled that child from my womb because it was so horrendous. But I have to admit... with the bad comes the good, cuz Thank Jesus in heaven, Effie is an angel from above. And now she's an even cuter wuter little angel cuz I chopped her bangs a nice inch above her bushy eyebrows, and now you can see even more of my cutest wootest wittle big baby.

Halloweens

Halloween seemed to last a lifetime this year. We had:

One kid's Halloween Party. - Fun - except that I creeped some parents out with my get-up.
My brother's Halloween Party. - Fun - He was a great Elvis
School Halloween Parade - Cute
Music Class Halloween Party - Fun - except that I creeped some kids out with my get-up.
Dreamworks Halloween Party - Nice - good food - and I went as a tree.
Q-Family Halloween Party - Fun! (Even had a clown partner!)
Treak Or Treating - Tiring - and Fun
Harmony/Glenn Halloween Party - FUN! Frankenstein and his bride were the hosts!

So, as you can see we had a lot of Fun - as always - and I'm glad I don't have to paint my face for awhile now! And I don't have to try to force Effie into a costume! We can relax for awhile - that is until Friday when I start freaking out about Effie's Birthday party right?

And I started music classes at Celia's school. Now I get to see all the little kids she talks about all the time. And I get to see what kind of little trouble makers they are. They are definitely a rowdy bunch of 5 year olds - which makes me happy. Celia is the little miss perfect one, trying very hard not to do anything outta place. Poor kid. I hope she loosens up a bit! I keep telling her that I spent most of 1st and 2nd grade in the "Thinking Chair" and that it was NBD - so to just relax.

So here are the 3 funny quotes of the day:

We fixed up Celia and Effie's bedroom today while my folks played SuperFriends with them and when Effie got back she noticed that her shoe rack was on top of her cardboard house - then when she went to look for her shoes, she saw them in a new place and said "Oh! My shoes are in anothers direction nows!"

Then in the evening while I was putting away laundry, I could hear Alex and the girls watching YouTube clips, then I heard Celia scream "I LOVE this singer SO much! What's his name again?"
Then Alex responded - "Sammy Davis Jr"
The funny part is that he was not joking. Here's the clip she so loved in case you are curious as to how funny this child is, and how funny Alex is. Not that the song or singer is funny, but what 5 year old today loves SDJ? I guess Celia.



Then while we were taking a walk in the dark tonight - and the chasing game was never ending, and the duck duck goose outside the liquor store was more fun than you'd think - Effie kept running and saying "Nah nah nah - You can'ts catch me! Runs runs as fast as you tan - you tan't tatch me I'm da Shingerbread mans!" I love my little Shingerbread man. She's so so so so cute.

Thank you everyone for all the Halloween fun. There is a lot lot lot going on right now, and it's all fun, manageable, and life is wonderful. I hope you are all happy too. Disneyland on Tuesday for Goo Goos' 3rd birthday. See you there?