Bye Mommy

My mom just picked Reagan up to take her shopping for "pretty" nail polish colors because Reagan informed her the other day that she needed better colors. When they were leaving the backyard, Reagan said, "Bye mommy." My mom told her, "Tell her see you later alligator." Reagan says, "See you ga later, later see you..." After about a minute of trying to get it right, she put her hand on her hip, cocked her head to the side, and said, "BYE MOMMY!" She then looked at my mom with a face that said, "I dare you to try to make me say that again!" She is so full of attitude already!!!

The Year of the Snake?!?

Mason and I went to the Chinese buffet down the street today - yummy! While we were eating, we noticed the placemats talked about the "year" you were born according to the Chinese calendar, and I realized I didn't even know what my animal was. I was born in 1977 - the year of - wait for it -the snake! Seriously, if anything could have been more wrong for me, I can't imagine what it is. I hate snakes. I hate snakes more than anything else in the world. I will not walk through the reptile house at the zoo and Richard has learned to warn me as soon as possible if a snake is on television or in a movie. The few times I have had to endure a snake encounter of any kind, I have woken up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare about snakes. In fact, Richard will never let me forget the night I woke him up in middle of the night, screaming that there were snakes under the bed and made him look under it with a flashlight before going back to sleep. Yep, I hate snakes. The idea that I was born in the year of the snake is ludacris to me. However, I hope there is something to this whole Chinese calendar thing, because according to it, my children are perfectly compatible with each other. Mason was born in the year of the dragon, Connor was born in the year of the monkey, and Reagan was born in the year of the rat. Supposedly, those three symbols are more compatible with each other than any others on the calendar. I envision many years to come with them loving each other and supporting each other through thick and then. But, then I remember that this is the same calendar that puts me in alignment with snakes and I think, "Nah, probably not going to happen!"

Along similar lines, guess what Cera killed in the backyard this afternoon - you guessed it, a snake! And guess what I, the wonderful mother that I am, did? I sent the 10 year old into the backyard to help her of course. No way I'm going anywhere near a snake. But I am pretty sure Richard will have some interesting stories to share about my dreams tonight!

The tooth fairy is a thief...

Connor lost his first tooth this weekend at his dad's house. He brought the tooth home to show it to us and finally put it under his pillow last night. He was so excited about finding money under his pillow when he woke up this morning. Here's the deal though...

It seems the tooth fairy was running a little low on funds last night, so she or he (Connor seems to believe the Rock really is the tooth fairy) seems to have broken into my purse and "borrowed" a $10 bill from inside Connor's money envelope in my purse. He would have borrowed it from my wallet, but I never have any cash. He would have borrowed it from Richard's wallet, but Richard never has any cash. He would have borrowed it from Mason's envelope, but Mason's envelope usually only has IOU's to me in it since he spends money faster than he gets it. Yeap, the only member of this family who knows how to save money and keep cash is Connor. So, the tooth fairy had to borrow $10 from Connor's stash to give Connor for his tooth. I would report this crime to the police department, but I am absolutely certain that he will return it tonight (or tomorrow, depending on how busy the ATM is tonight!)

On a side note: Inflation is more evident in the dental industry than anywhere else. When I lost my teeth, I recieved a quarter a tooth!

Connect Four

Mason took his TAKS test today, and he did awesome. He came in my classroom telling me how hard he worked and then I talked to his teacher and she said the same thing. We were really worried that he wouldn't be able to focus, but she said he was a different student - taking his time, checking his work, and working on his essay for a long time. As a reward, at school tomorrow they are having a game party. Mason started digging out games and asking me to play with him. I started giving him all the excuses that I had on standby like, tomorrow is a school day, and I need to clean the kitchen and grade papers. Then I looked at his eyes and thought about the families in Houston who lost their children to a fire at their daycare (the lady who owned the home daycare was shopping down the road when the fire started). So guess what. Tonight when I go to bed, my kitchen will be dirty and my papers won't be graded - I'm playing Connect 4! I'm also praying for peace for the families in Houston. I can't imagine dropping my children off at school and it being the last time I saw them alive.