We Have the Flu

DO NOT BE ALARMED!!! We don't have the Mexican Swine Flu, but the kids seem to have a very bad case of the North Carolina Whine Flu. We're not sure, but the source appears to be homework, and the condition seems to be aggrevated by not enough sleep. Strangly enough, even though the kids are the ones that exhibit the symptoms (which include speaking in a drawn out, nasally manner, a lot of foot stomping and rolling around, and in certain instances, a complete lack of respect), it is the parents that suffer the most severe effects. In an ironic twist, drinking lots of WINE seems offer some relief. We hear that the symptoms may ease up in about six weeks, coinciding with school being out for summer. Word is that this strain of flu has spread rapidly through my neighborhood. Anyone, Darnell, Anyone???

We Are Our Mothers

Yesterday I had one of those moments when you realize that you are turning into your mother. In this particular case it had to do with homework. When I was in school, us kids avoided letting my mother see our homework at any cost. Showing it to her usually resulted in the homework assignment taking much longer than it should have. And once my mom went back to college, forget about it. If you dared to let her read anything that you wrote, she would tear it apart, yelling words at you like "thesis statement". You'd be like "Chill out, Mom, it's a 7th grade book report, not a dissertation to get my PH.D". Anyway, yesterday I go in Sam's room to check on his homework progress, and he immediately starts going into this whining roll around his floor, making statements like "I'm never going to get to play outside again." Now keep in mind that Sam's homework is done weekly and due on Friday, so on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, there is a lot of playing outside, which results in this conniption fit (see, I even sound like my mom) on Thursdays. On this particular Thursday, Sam had to take a practice spelling test, in CURSIVE (gasp) and finish some math word problems. This is the perfect storm of homework around here. So this led to Sam going on a 10 minute rant about how since there are now computers he doesn't need to know cursive or spelling, since he can spell check. As for math, HELLO!!! has anyone ever heard of a calculator??? Why do you need to memorize multiplication facts!!! As I was listening to his rant, I began to think to myself, something seems familiar...but I just can't put my finger on what it is.....

Simple Pleasures

NBC Nightly News starting doing this segment a while back where they highlight something positive. It is their way of airing a bright spot amongst all of the bad news they have been delivering of late. It got me thinking of some simple things that can instantly brighten my day. Here are five of my "simple pleasures":

1. Hearing my kids really laugh wholeheartedly about something silly. This will be my only mushy one, I swear.

2. Spontaneously stopping to get ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, or as Ryan calls it "Stone Cold". He is convinced the wrestler owns it.

3. Getting a fountain soft drink that has crunchy ice, or as my family says "the good ice". If you don't know what I mean, it is the kind of ice that Sonic uses in their drinks and slush's. Awesome.

4. If it is Tuesday or a Wednesday, knowing that a new episode of Rescue Me or Lost will be on that night.

5. Going to bed on freshly cleaned sheets. I would clean my sheets everyday if I had the time. And they must be freshly cleaned, not just different sheets out of the linen closet. There is a difference.

Riverbanks Zoo

On Thursday, Ryan and I went down to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia for the 1st grade field trip. The is the biggest event of the year, and all of the kids look forward to it. I think that one of the biggest thrills was getting to ride in the big buses that were chartered for the trip. First graders are endlessly fascinated by the fact that there was a toilet on the bus. If they hadn't had explicit instructions that the bathroom was only for extreme emergencies, I am sure the entire ride would have been one trip down the aisle after another. The group that I was in charge of had Ryan and three other boys. The highlights of a day at the zoo to a group of 7 year old boys are elephant poop, red baboon butts, and climbing on, over, around, and through everything that they saw (as you can see from the pictures). We had a great day, and I came home with a much greater appreciation for my well behaved son (but let's keep that to ourselves!)☺♥

Easter at the Generals

So I've been looking at all of the pretty pictures that my friends have posted on their blogs and on Facebook, and everyone looks so lovely in their Easter best. Here is what my children chose to wear to their Grandparents on Sunday.

Sadly, they also wore these same outfits to Scott's parents house on Saturday. I know, I know, but what are you gonna do? I was slightly insulted when I found out that my Mom and Sister had a bet going as to how long my children had been in their camo's. In my defense, it was spring break. Now that school is back in they are properly scrubbed, shampooed, and smelling springtime fresh.

Ryan's Rambo obsession has also led to the following nicknames for some family members:
Mombo - Me
Sambo - Sam
Grambo - my mom
Elbow - cousin Lilly
Snorebo - Uncle Mike
Moebo - the cat

They are a strange troop, but you just gotta love 'em.

Grayson Rose

I ordered a "Grayson" rosebush today. This is a new rose being brought over from France by Ashdown Roses in SC. It is named Grayson in honor of the baby that a local radio personality lost back in October. 40% of the profits go the The March of Dimes. So if your looking to plant some new rose bushes this fall, check out this link:

http://www.ashdownroses.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2800

It looks like it will be a beautiful bush, and you help a good cause at the same time. While your there, click the link to check out the Matt and Ramona radio show. They are hysterical, and make the work day and ride home so much more enjoyable.

What's in a Name - Part 2

So I apparently insulted some family members by inadvertently leaving them out of my previous post. So I am hereby amending "What's In A Name" to include the following:

1. My sister, Stephanie, probably has the best example that I could have given to Ryan a/k/a Bub, but it completely slipped my mind. She has been called Nee or Nee Nee by our family since she was a child. The kids even call her Aunt Nee Nee. Once I was telling Sam something about "Stephanie" and didn't realize I was totally confusing him until he said to me in a very exasperated tone "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT."

2. In one of the most bizarre stories I've ever heard, my Father-in-law, Peeps (yes, you did read that correctly, it is Peeps, like the Easter marshmallow things), told us that he was actually named Henry at birth, and sometime in his first year his mother decided to rename him Peeps, and went down and had it legally changed. This was apparently in honor of an Uncle whose last name was Peeps. I'm thinking that even the Uncle was like "What the Hell"?

What's In A Name

"What's in a name. A rose by any other would still smell as sweet." Didn't Shakespeare say something like that. Well, Ryan would tend to take issue with ol' William on that point. Ryan is one of those unfortunate children that has been saddled with a family nickname from birth. It started off cute enough. Sam couldn't say brother, he said bubba, which turned into Bub, blah, blah, blah. So here we are seven years later, and Ryan is still Bub, and would prefer that he never be called that again. I tried to explain to him that he comes from a family in which that is easier said than done. The neighborhood kids overhear Sam say it so much that we pass kids we don't even really know and they are like "Hi BOB." Ryan just sighs and shakes his head. I recently received a friend request on Facebook from a name I didn't recognize. Curiosity got the best of me, and when I accepted and went to her page it explained that she went by Missy in high school, but has since started using her middle name of Tamera. I was really amazed that someone was able to just decide to go by another name and that can actually work. Don't know what her family calls her, though. I once worked with these two lawyers that were brothers, and one was named William, never Will or Bill, always William. His brother told me that he was called Bill up until college, when he announced that he was now going to go by William, and he refused to acknowledge you if you referred to him as anything else. I thought to myself that they must come from very civilized and polite families, because that kind of stuff would never fly with my family. If I ever announced "I would now like to be known as Jacqueline" my family would be like "Get over yourself, JACK." I have male cousins that are now grown men in their 40's and because they have the same name as their father, they will forever be "Big (insert name) and Little (insert name), for example, we have a Big Lenny and Little Lenny, and a Big Gene and Little Gene. Doesn't matter how old you are, you are either the Big or the Little. In Jersey, we must not be quite as original as they are down here in the South, where there are plenty of Jrs., Trips and Treys. Just Big and Little. In my own family, my father is Mike (unless you go really old school on him and he's Mick or Mickey) but mostly Mike. That leaves my brother as Mikey (when he's not being called Dumb Ass, that is). Anyway, Mikey would prefer to be Mike, but oh no, not an option. This has led to Staci calling him Mikey Mike. See what I mean. This is what happens when you try to mess with the name thing around here. I have pointed all this out to Ryan, and told him that even though Sam is just Sam, Lilly is "the Lil" and Trace is, well, a good ol' Southern boy (see Trip and Trey explanation above) who will forever have to explain to teachers what his name is, but Ryan still wanted to whine about it, so then I told him as any good Separ would...Get Over It!!!!

Sam on LeBron

A few weeks ago Sam finished up his first season playing basketball. He fell in love with the game(and in his last game scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds - proud Mom moment), and now he plays some version of it everyday (real or X-Box). Well, he watched a 60 Minutes interview with LeBron James on Sunday and was really impressed with LeBron's story. The next day he was telling me about all of the things that LeBron had accomplished and he said "He is REALLY good, Mom, he could probably play for the Globetrotters." Something about the innocence of that statement made me smile.