DAY 3

DAY 3: A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Oh, So You Think You Can Dance, I count the days til you start each summer.

My boys think I could win this show.

I couldn't, but it's nice to know they think so.

DAY 2

DAY 2: A picture of you and the person you've been close to for a while.

Mayo and Me, Together Forever

Mandisa and I are close.  I mean, really close.  Like, less than a foot apart, if she's got anything to say about it.  Makes cooking dinner, washing the floor, or walking across the room kind of difficult.  But at least I'm never lonely.  I love my neurotic mess of a dog.

DAY 1

So, in case you hadn't noticed, my blogging has been pretty spotty lately.  Lest you get concerned, don't.  My children are just as crazy/cute/funny/naughty/(your choice of adjective here) as ever.  I've just not been feeling the blogging bug.  Since I really do enjoy blogging, and plan to continue for as long as you'll read (or longer, since I'm not sure you're reading as it is), I figure it's time to give myself a nice swift kick in the pants.  There's this little thirty-day challenge going around on facebook.  Seen it?  If you haven't, no worries.  I'll walk you through it as I try it out.  But not on facebook.  Right here on The Nugget.  So here we go...

DAY 1: A picture of you and 15 facts.

1. I have way too many gray hairs for any one 30-year-old. Actually, they are all pure white. I can thank my Bubby for my prematurely white hair. Thanks, Bubby.

2. I make the best chocolate chip cookies. Ask anybody. Oh, and I just ate three.

3. Once I read a harlequin romance novel (there were about a thousand of them on the shelves in my room in a beach rental). I read my favorite part over and over. It was the part describing a farmhouse kitchen. The rest of the book was pretty dumb.

4. I have very little (no) patience with complaining. For some reason, my children still don’t get this.

5. I didn’t know how to get home from my high school until I was half-way through my junior year. Luckily, I had good friends who took care of me.

6. For one month every year, I actually like my pink counter tops. That month is February, which is now over.

7. Once in college, I woke up late and raced, in my pajamas, across campus and into class. The room was dark and empty, so I went back to the dorm. It wasn’t until I got there that I realized it was 3:00 am. No, the dark, silent campus never clued me in.

8. I’m wearing a fur coat in all my wedding photos. And Dan’s ears are bright red.

9. My handwriting changes every time I pick up a pen, and sometimes in the middle of a word. I’d love to see a handwriting analyst try to figure me out.

10. I want chickens and bees. My neighbors, on the other hand, may not like that idea as much as I do.

11. I grew up thinking I was terrible at Scrabble. Then I played somebody who wasn’t a member of my family. And I realized that my family is cutthroat. And I’m not terrible at Scrabble. But now I like Bananagrams better.

12. I like just about everybody. Really, it’s true. Except for people who smoke around children. Them, I don’t like. At all.

13. I have the world’s most incredible memory. I remember everything. Including that one day at recess in sixth grade when a bunch of us girls were sitting on the parallel bars and Lauren said her sister wore brown eye shadow and we were all like, “ewww! brown!” and then Ms. Dagata said she wore brown eye shadow and that was when we all realized brown was the best color for eye shadow. Yeah, stuff like that.

14. My first celebrity crush was Christian Bale. Not “Batman” Christian Bale, “Jack Kelly” Christian Bale. These little girls who love him now don’t know the half of it. They don’t even know he can sing, dance, and lead a newsboy strike.

15. I fell asleep on the beach in LA and woke up to a guy taking pictures of me. I think he was more impressed by the spectacular sunburn I was sporting on my eyelids than by my stunning figure.

Oh, the Irony

I got a package from my Dad today.  In it, there was a tupperware container I'd left at their house, a lump of silly putty, and a pair of Jake's socks.  And a George Mason sweatshirt.

Growing up, I used to steal my dad's clothes.  It drove him nuts.  And one of my favorites was an old, ratty GMU sweatshirt.  Ironic, because I swore I would NEVER go to George Mason.  No way.  No how.

Which itself is pretty ironic.  Since guess what I have tucked away in our file box...  my George Mason diploma.

Thanks, Dad!  I love my new sweatshirt!

Oh, and if you decide to get one for yourself, I'll have to try it out.  I might want that one, too...

New Skill

Last night, Camden learned to crochet.

He was taught by a 17-year-old boy (who also learned last night).

It was pretty much wonderful.

Thoughts on Valentine's Day

My Valentine.

He's cute.  And fun.

I totally lucked out.

This morning (3:45 am to be exact), I sent him off to catch a plane.
Maybe not our most romantic Valentine's Day.
But when I remember that two years ago I didn't get to see him - or even talk to him - at all, I figure packing his socks and underwear is better than nothing!

Mother Nature gave me a beautiful Valentine today...  My daffodils are popping up!  It'll be a while before they do much more than that, and they'll probably be covered in snow again before they get to do anything exciting, but it's so nice to know that Spring is indeed on its way! 

Another gift from my friend Mother Nature (that's right, she's my friend today)...  It was over 60 degrees today!

It was also super windy.  As in, "blow the just-cleaned-up dog poop back all over the yard" windy.  You think I'm exagerating, but I'm not.  Until today, I never would have believed it, either.

Don't worry, though.  I cleaned it all back up.  Doesn't it just make you want a dog?

And then I sent the children out to play.  In case you were wondering what one does with a heavy winter coat that was most definitely needed yesterday - and will most definitely be needed tomorrow - but is most definitely not needed today...  You use it as a cape.  Just thought you might want to know that.

Thank goodness for Valentine's Day!  Our Halloween candy was almost gone.  The candy jar was dangerously close to empty.  But not anymore!  Thank you St. Valentine for being martyred and lending your name to a pagan holiday so we Christians can celebrate it in good conscience.  I truly appreciate the opportunity to refill the candy jar, especially with Easter coming so late this year.

Finally...

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Stopwatch!

Stopwatch who?

Stopwatch-you're doin' and give me a smooch!

Yeah, I thought that was a good one, too.

Down Down Down

Ever played "Down Down Down?"  Well, you should.

Here's how to play:

Start with both players facing each other, playing toss.  Each time a player misses the ball, he has to go "down," first to one knee, then to both, followed by one elbow, then both, and finally to the chin.  All the while, the game of catch continues.  The first player to miss the ball with his chin on the ground is out.

Let me tell you, this is a fun game.

Even for the spectator.  The body positions and funny faces are great entertainment.

Play it today!

Six Weeks

The next six weeks are some of the only weeks during our year that we don't have a sport going on.  Because Jake's first basketball season is officially over (and because our gymnastics coach quit).  But no worries, it definitely won't be his last.  He's already counting the days to next season.

Oh, and that photo?  Yeah, he made the shot.

Cub Scout

I just sent my eight-year-old and his daddy off to hike around downtown Fredericksburg for the day.

In the freezing rain.

Because that's the sort of stuff you do when you're a cub scout.

He's ecstatic.  His daddy...

(Let's just say Daddy's already been a cub scout.)

Caught

If your parents want to give your children cameras for Christmas, before saying, "Yes!  Great idea!" (as I did), you might want to think seriously about the things you do around the house.  Like, say, channeling Taylor Swift while making dinner.  Just a thought.

IHOP

We don't go out to dinner often.  But we did on Saturday!  Whether it was because the kitchen was still dirty from Friday night's dinner or because Dan was craving unlimited pancakes, we may never know.

Did you know that I spent a lot of time at IHOP in high school?  It's true.  It was open all the time.  And who can resist the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity in the middle of the night?  Not me.  Of course, I generally didn't eat much on those midnight pancake runs.  About the time our food would come out, one of my friends would usually have to leave to drive me home.  I had an early curfew - at least compared to theirs.

But I digress.  I'm not here to tell stories of the Nugget's high school days. (Though maybe I'll have to think about that idea.  There are some good ones!)  I'm here today to tell you all about our dinner at IHOP.

At IHOP, I learned some things I did not know...

 1. My boys ALL make the same face when a camera is pointed at them.  Got a drink?  Great prop!

2. Camden can eat his weight in pancakes.  Good thing Daddy got the unlimited plate, because Cam's humongous pancake just didn't quite cut it!

3. Even at IHOP, we can still find a use for ketchup.

And finally - and probably most importantly - I learned that my children did not know that pancakes, waffles, french toast, and eggs are, in fact, breakfast foods.  They were legitimately shocked to hear this little tidbit of information.  Camden's response: "You mean they serve pancakes for breakfast?"

Moral of the story: This mommy serves breakfast for dinner a little too often.

Snowalien

No boring snowmen for us.

Around here, we build snow ALIENS.

With mohawks.

What would you do?

What would you do if you couldn't get your gate open because it was jammed in the snow?

Would you ask your mommy for help, or would you dismantle the hinges and break the latch so you could lift it right on up and go under?

We chose the latter.

Matty and His Mommy

Granny isn't just a Granny. She's also a mommy. And she's not just Daddy's mommy, either. She's got five other people that call her mommy, too!
One of these people is our Uncle Matt-Matt. And you know what, I hope that when I'm a granny my boys love me as much as Matty loves his mommy.

Be Patient

I've decided my blog needs a facelift.  So, I've started fooling with things.  Only problem is, I have NO IDEA what I'm doing.  So....  I guess what I'm saying here is, please be patient while The Nugget looks like a mess.  Maybe I'll figure out what I'm doing.  Or maybe Dan will come home from Florida (someday) and save me.

Iced In

We're iced in.

Our trees, house, and streets are encased in a nice thick sheet of ice.  You northerners who laugh at us for closing schools for "nothing," come on over.

We'll show you "nothing."

Princesses

I live with men. Therefore, I get very little princess exposure. So when I have a chance to get a picture with Cinderella, you better believe I'm going to take it. And post it for all the world to see, even if I do look kind of goofy.

Oh, and can I just say how happy I am that we have girl cousins who will get in pictures of Cinderella with me? Cause my boys chose to wait by the car - in the cold - instead of be seen with their crazy princess-loving mother. Ah, girl cousins. Love them!

It Worked

I'm not saying corndogs at Applebee's and a stop at Redbox are a total cure.
And they certainly don't cancel out discipline.
Trust me, we've got a ways to go still.
But we've got a much happier little boy.
Yesterday, we even made it to church.
No fits.
Today we only had one.
But who wants a haircut right after school, right?
Totally understandable.
I like my happy little boy.
And I like Cam and Mommy time.
It tastes good.
Like ketchup.

Lesson Learned. Finally.

I've mentioned before how Dan and I like to document our children's fits. We find them entertaining. Most of the time. And I was all set to write a cute little post about Camden's latest - his "Day on the Couch" - until it hit me that this one isn't entertaining. It's a learning experience for me. So, this post isn't funny. But it's true and from the heart. It's what I learned tonight. Here goes...

Camden spent Sunday on the couch. Literally. All day. The angry - even violent - fit he threw for a good part of the morning landed him on the living room couch, where he stayed (under the watchful eye of his father) while Jake and I went to church for the afternoon. By the time we got home he was asleep. "Oh, thank goodness. That's exactly what he needs," I told myself.

After the multiple, very public (thank goodness the public was all family who will love us anyway), fits of the day before, I had convinced myself that the child was "over-vacationed." It was time to get home and back to our steady routine. And sleep.

Sunday was bad. Really bad. But Monday would be better. He would sleep from 3:00 straight through til morning. And then he would be my happy little Cam again. I really like my happy little Cam. Everybody does - you just can't help yourself.

But Monday morning was bad. My happy little Cam was still possessed by an angry, wrathful monster. I sent him to school. Unhappy.

Should I tell you about Monday afternoon, Tuesday, Wednesday... You get it, right?

Camden is unhappy. And as I sat thinking about ways to discipline him and teach him to behave and calm down, I remembered having the same dilemna - albeit on a much smaller level - a full month ago. And I remembered figuring out the answer.

The answer wasn't a new discipline strategy or lesson. The answer was that this sweet (usually) little boy needed some one-on-one time with his mommy. A month ago. A month ago, I knew Camden and I needed to have some time. But it didn't happen. Life got in the way. There were basketball games and homework and errands. Dan was gone most of the last month. Then there was snow. It was fun to have the boys home for the snow days, but that wasn't very conducive to "one-on-one" time. And then it was Christmas. Wonderful family time. We loved every minute of it. But Camden and Mommy? No, that didn't happen.

And here we are, a full month later. Has our problem resolved? No. It's just gotten so much worse. Has the solution changed? No. It's just gotten so much more important.

Tomorrow, instead of the photo editing I really need to be doing, I'll be stealing away with my younger son. Because I'm finally figuring out what I thought I already knew. What my children need from me is my time and attention. And it's high time this one gets it.

Real Quick

Ten years ago (last Thursday), I married a pretty great guy.

He's handsome and funny and smart and he works hard and he takes good care of me. I like him a little bit (or maybe a lot).

For our anniversary he took me away from the children. For two days. (Did I mention I like him a lot?)

We went to see The Lion King. Stunning. And gorgeous. And beautiful.

We went to Williamsburg. Last time we were there it was our honeymoon. (Go ahead, you know you want to make that "awww" face.)

We ate yummy food. Italian (my favorite) instead of sushi, because he loves me.

We realized that ten years ago we had no children. Now we have a six-year-old and an eight-year-old. In ten more years we'll have a junior and a senior in high school. Oh goodness.

Well, as long as we're doing it together, bring it on!

Oh, and will somebody please come take a picture of us together? This is getting kind of ridiculous.