Watch Out for the Demon Cats

I thought they were still watching the forty zillionth episode of iCarly or I would have nixed this in bud, but Daniel and Lea Anna watched some paranormal cable show the other night featuring Demon Cats and Hounds of Hell. I'll bet you can guess the outcome of this incident. Lea Anna is convinced that demon cats are real and I have not had a decent night sleep in two days. Anyway, I just found out that She's also afraid to go in her bedroom in the daytime so she hasn't changed her clothes in two days except for her T-Shirt and I am fighting with her to change her underwear. Seriously, Demon cats?!! Who makes this #$%^ up? And why the paranoia of possessed cats and not possessed dogs?

School Days

I'm not one to brag but....okay, I lied. Little Miss Lea Anna got her first stack of papers back from her first week of school. Needless to say Momma is proud. And Dad's head has swelled to epic proportions too.

Lea Anna's Birthday Pics

We celebrated Lea Anna's 6th Birthday yesterday and we all had a blast inspite of it being too muddy outside for the pinata and setting the oven on fire just as I was about to put the food in the oven (note to self - must clean oven more often). The kids didn't complain about either events. Gary made a last minute trip to Domino's and they all were too involved in a two hour boys Vs. girls match with Daniel's Nerf guns to play any organized games anyway.

Student of the Month

Somehow I missed the bulletin but Lea Anna was named Student of the Month in October.



We also missed the ceremony last night where the gave the medals to all the first quarter honorees since Lea Anna pulled the announcement out of thin air exactly one hour after it started. But no matter, She's still happy as a clam. Lea Anna picked up her medal today and we celebrated with a trip to her favorite place - McDonalds. Needless to say Mom and Dad are super proud. I'll try not to let my head swell up too big.

Hey School Girl!

It turned out that Lea Anna's first day of school was not the same as Daniel's, they started today. As of last night She politely informed us that She wanted to be called "School Girl". She loves her teacher and is still excited over her first day. "I made two new friends and I got to go to the playground and we colored and we did....!" Her enthusiasm is so contagious, it's even improved Daniel's attitude about school a little bit. Can I go to kindergarten too?

Lea Anna Vs the Jaguar

Sheba started barking at some large shadowy shape that was rustling in the brush yesterday evening. No one could see what it was other than it was large, noisy and dark. Lea Anna is now convinced it was a jaguar. Never mind that there is no jaguars in North America, yet alone in Tennessee. You can't convince her otherwise. I had to close and lock the bathroom window last night and stayed right by her side while she bathed because she was afraid it would jump in the window and eat her. It still wasn't enough. "But what if it COULD jump in the window?" "There are no jaguars in Tennessee, besides even there were it would eat Mommy first because she's bigger and is right by the window" "But what if it likes to eat little girls instead of Mommies?" "Lea Anna, there are no Jaguars in Tennessee" And on and on various jaguar scenarios went on into the night. And as for Daniel - he thinks he could kill it with the little one inch blade on his Swiss Army Knife. AGGGH!

When Will I Ever Learn

This is my fourth child and of all the things that I have learned over the years, there are obviously plenty more that I have not. One of them is do not give a child a choice unless you really, really do not care what the outcome is. Case in point - Lea Anna's up coming birthday:

ME: "Lea Anna, what kind of food do you want at your birthday party?"

LEA ANNA: "fruit rollups"

ME "No, we are already having cupcakes. I mean the actual food - like hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza ..."

LEA ANNA "fruit rollups"

And on and on the one-sided conversation goes, her tuning me out in the process all the while waxing poetic about the five dollar cash card you can win from specially marked boxes (at this point I'd give her five bucks just to make this scenario go away)- only to repeat herself about the fruit rollups several hours later. This been going on for a week, and I have three more to go through till her party. AGH!

The Call of the Wild

These were shot at the little ravine behind our house. We drug Jazzmin through thornbushes to get there, and followed Daniel through more thornbushes to get back up the hill.

Some pretty but nameless creek that runs behind our house



Lea Anna & Daniel by the horse trail



Jazzmin Abusing Her Little Brother



Is she falling? Surfing? Or is it the LA version of the Chicken Dance?

Lea Anna's Rock Climbing Adventure

I have tried but I didn't make it through the summer without the obligatory E.R. visit. It was Little Miss Priss this time, who has a bad habit of climbing the rock facade outside our apartments. We have caught her in the act and have stopped her numerous times. Her adventure last night didn't go so well. Telling Gary she was going inside to get a drink, she ducked around the corner and made it half way up the wall before - clunk! So anyway, after much screaming and blood gushing out of her head, a trip the the local ER, another trip by ambulance (which she liked by the way, especially since she flashed those baby blues and got a dollar off one of the ambulance drivers) to Vanderbilt Children's E.R., and a nights worth of observation and two MRIs later, she ended up with a mild concussion and steri-tape instead of stitches on her little noggin. She is back in her usual form - she is now having a farting contest with Daniel and has learned her lesson about climbing the rock wall. For now at least. Now if someone can tell me where I can purchase a plastic bubble or at the least a full Kevlar body suit to encase her in, she just might survive into adulthood.

Lea Anna's Ready

Lea Anna came running out to the car as soon as I shut the engine off. "Mommy guess what - We only have TWO MORE DAYS till Chattanooga! And I got lots of panties packed!" Her little pink suitcase was stuffed full of underwear and under shirts. I'm not sure how this all fits in with the grand scheme of things since I have repeatedly told her we are only taking a day trip, but what the heck - she's ready!

Getting Some Flack

I got Lea Anna's hair cut into a cute little page boy haircut. Boy did I get some flack when I got home! The guys are still grumbling. Yeah, little girls look cuter with long hair. But let THEM hold her down screaming to comb it very night. No one has stepped up to the plate for that job in the past four years. And it covers up hack job little missy did to herself last fall. I stand by my original statement - She looks gorgeous.

Happy Birthday Lea Anna

4 years ago today, a little princess entered into our lives. Being known as one to never skip a meal she must have smelled cake, since she missed her Dad’s birthday and her Mom and Dad’s anniversary by a mere two minutes. Coming from a line of eccentrics, princesses and divas our world has never been the same since. Nor would we want it any other way. My world has also been more colorful since, as have my walls and carpets - which, by the way , washable crayons and markers don’t really wash off of everything.
We celebrated her birthday a day early yesterday with a little cake and ice cream party. I kind of gave up on having an actual party for Gary since the “baby” always over shadows everything and he’s not keen on celebrating his birthday anymore at this point in life. It made her day having company over, not to mention plenty of food and girly presents. Lea Anna even proved her "big girl" status by not locking herself in the bathroom when the thunderstorm passed through last night. She did make a point of telling anyone who disagreed with her (especially at bedtime) “but I’M the BIRTHDAY girl”. She also woke me up at the crack of dawn this morning to ask if she was still the birthday girl.

Yes Lea Anna, you are still the birthday girl.

On another note, Daniel is healing up quite well after tripping and smacking his face on the steps coming home from school Friday. Thank god it wasn't nearly as bad as we first thought, but for a couple of days he looked like he was on the wrong end of a barroom brawl.

Snow Jam '07

I've come up with a simple algebraic formula to more accurately predict snowfall in Middle Tennessee - a x b /c = n. Take the amount of inches predicted by your favorite network news meteorologist, multiply it by the number of spastic people in the Kroger milk isle, divide it by the number of even more frantic women searching for shopping carts in the parking lot, and the answer is two. Two as in the seemingly only two snow flakes that actually fell. Sound like Atlanta to Y'all? Sorry you didn't get a snow day out of it Daniel - I didn't either! Well, we are out of trashbags and they are predicting snow again tonight. Gary's turn to go shopping!

Caught in the Act

I snapped this last week, after I heard a bunch of giggling and loud thuds coming from the kids room. The little farts piled all their bedding and clothes in a big pile and were jumping off the bunk bed into it. Obviously they haven't learned from Daniel's broken finger last summer. Things like this often make me wonder how we ever made it to adulthood in one piece. I sure got my work cut out for me, don't I?
Things are still not noteworthy around here, but after one mini drama after another last year I don't mind it a bit.
I finally popped for a couple of lottery tickets yesterday, but since I'm about to get ready for work tomorrow I obviously didn't win squat. I'll just consider my two dollars a donation to the lottery commissioner Rebeca Paul's gazillion dollar bonus. I don't remember how much she netted for meeting the benchmarks last year but I believe it was in the 6 digit category. Now THAT is the smart way to make money off the lottery. Too bad I can't have her negotiate my salary.

Christmas Pics

I'm getting better, It only took until January to post these!

One of the few pics Adrian willingly took. Gee, do ya get the feeling he likes South park?!!

Daniel & Lea Anna playing rock star (Thank God the batteries ran out!)

Adrian getting the "beat down" from Jazz. Cool hair Jazz - and I'm sorry about the My Little Pony jokes. Well, sort of :)

Lea Anna in her new unicorn costume

Shopping for Siblings

Lea Anna asked me to go to the store and buy her some Brothers and Sisters so She could have lots of kids to play with. I tried to explain to her in 3 yr old terms where babies come from and why you can not just go to the store and buy a baby, but She still has this idea stuck in her head that I can just pick one up at the store. I think this all stems from a conversation during a tantrum she had months ago when she screamed that She's not my girl anymore and my reply was something to the effect of if you don't want me anymore I'll just have to go to Big Lots and buy another little girl - I hear they have a sale on them in aisle 5. I am going to have to find a play group or something for her soon. This is not a closed subject with Her.

Introducing Lava Boy and Ice Girl

Daniel has been on restriction this whole weekend because he had a bad week in school. He's about driving me crazy alternating between the "I'm bored" and running wild around the house with Lea Anna. They did make up a "super powers" game. It's really cute but I'm trying to sit tight and ignore the extra noise while they loudly try to freeze and melt each other into oblivion. He only has one more day - I think I'll be just as glad as he is to let him go outside again! Sooner or later I'll have my dream home with a nice yard so that Lava Boy and Ice Girl can shoot their power beams outside where they don't echo through my brain. Daniel has also been playing with Lea Anna's doll house a lot. The pink trim don't seem to offend him anymore now that he's found out that it makes a nifty three story parking garage for his hot wheels. And of course they both think it's hilarious to pretend the dolls are pooping on the toilet. Excellent sound effects included, free of charge. Boys will be boys .........

Merry Christmas to All

We had a visit from Santa (my nephew-in-law Robert in a very good costume) tonight. Lea Anna was scared at first, and buried her head under a blanket until he pulled out a present for her. She sure hopped up on his lap awfully quick then! I suppose little Miss Priss is finally over her Santa phobia. He also chatted with Daniel and told him "You were on my naughty list a few times". I could barely keep myself from falling down laughing. Daniel still got a present though, as He was "not on the naughty list tonight". So anyway, the kids promised they would be in bed at 8:30 so he can come back and deliver the rest of the presents and that they would leave milk & cookies for Santa and some food for his reindeer. I have plenty of milk, but I really don't feel like baking cookies right now. Perhaps I can interest them in a batch of Chicken in a Biscuit crackers or some cappuccino jelly bellies?

Merry Christmas Y'all!