today I learned how to spell "chronicling"

So, maybe you've all figured out by now, but I'm kind of a boring person. I don't much care for parties and I generally do my best to not ever host one. Which, of course, is why I was sent a child who has grand ideas for a party she'd like to throw at least weekly and is constantly begging me to let her have one.

Go ahead and feel sorry for her. I do.

This weekend Jeremy is going to snowboarding with most of the boys in his family, so the girls decided to get together and have a "girls night", plus nine kids, held at my house. Alexis caught wind of this yesterday and has been going nuts ever since. You see, Alexis is the oldest cousin, loves to plan things, and has a million ideas racing through her head at all times. This makes her a "triple threat". Last night she asked if we could make a list of things to do on Saturday night, and I knew there was no way she'd sleep until we did it, so I sat down with her to brainstorm. And boy did she ever have some ideas! The first idea she introduced to me was a 3 legged race, which she was calling a 2 footed race. I tried to sway her from this idea since there's not a lot of room in my house for that sort of thing, but she already had ideas for how to get around that hang-up.

I took a picture of the list she came up with because it's so funny to me. After each item on the list she drew a box, and then after we wrote down all the ideas she went through and put a check next to the ones she wants to do for sure, and any ideas that fall under the "maybe" category, she drew a check in half the box, and then colored in the other half. There were no "for sure no" items, no matter how hard I tried.

Because this way of thinking is so foreign to me, it takes a lot of energy for me to not get annoyed by this and brush her off. And a "planning" session like this can be exhausting for me, especially at the end of the day. BUT! But, I love who Alexis is and I don't want her to ever feel like she should be different. If anything, I should be more like her. She is determined, she is prepared, she is fun to be around, she is full of good ideas, she is a leader, and she has a zest for life! And I always want her to know I think she's the most special girl I've ever met, so if that means that I will be participating in a 3 legged race in my living room on Saturday night, so be it.

This kind of leads me into the next thing I wanted to talk about. You may have noticed my blogging has seriously slacked off lately. Life seems to have grabbed me by the wrists and started running, with me bouncing and dragging behind. As a result I've discovered lots of things that I DON'T want to be (mostly by becoming them), most especially in regards to the type of mother I am. So I sat down and thought about the kind of mom I DO want to be, and figured out what kinds of things I need to be doing to become that mom. This is all well and good, but it doesn't leave me much free time, so my blogging will probably continue to be slow for awhile. I'm not going to stop blogging because I love chronicling this fleeting time of life, but I just don't have as much time as I used to, and it's not top on my list of priorities. So you will most likely be hearing less from me, for awhile anyway.

Now for Ryan's adoring public:
I put him in a swing at the park for the first time, and he loved it. Though most of the time he just laid back like this:

Now, a few quick tidbits to round up this long post:

-Alexis, since Saturday, has been snapping nonstop. She snaps while talking about something, she uses it for emphasis, she snaps while dancing, she snaps while using the bathroom, she snaps while eating (or when she's supposed to be eating), she snaps while reading, doing homework, and I'm SURE she snaps during school too. It is incredibly cute, and it's always with both hands, never just one.

-Ryan has another ear infection, and I can't decide which is worse: the ear infection and subsequent lack of sleep, or the medicine I have to give him and the never ending, foul smelling diarrhea that results. Amazingly enough, he is still his happy charming self throughout the day, no matter what is bothering him.

-Tyler is still misusing the word "heck" and if I have paper nearby I write down some of the things he says. Here are a few examples:
*Does this thing heck come off?
*Are you heck sitting here?
*Is this heck a movie?
*Is it heck okay if Ryan plays in the laundry basket?

Believe me when I say, it is the cutest heck thing.

See you in a few weeks. Or tomorrow. You never really know.