Semi-Monthly Blog #1

Sorry for the blog shortage lately. I have no idea what I was thinking when I originally committed to updating daily. Let’s regroup and adjust. From now on, count on semi-monthly and we’ll go from there. From Batman Birthday parties to free pumpkin patches…we’ve definitely been busy lately. I am also adding a new section to my ‘semi-monthly’ blogs called ‘Betcha Didn’t Know- things you may or may not know about me’ (stolen from the best blog writer herself, Mica…who I think stole it from someone else). Enjoy!

Batman 1, Lightening McQueen 0
When the movie ‘Cars’ came out last summer, I thought the theme for the 1st annual Hayden/Davis joint birthday party was a no-brainer. Quite honestly, I didn’t think there was a need for much discussion around the subject. Lightening McQueen was fast. He won the Piston Cup. He learned a valuable lesson and fell in love with Sally. Why wouldn’t that be the birthday party theme of every 3-year old in the country? I spent 4 hours creating super-cute invitations (if I do say so myself) that looked like a NASCAR ticket and in an attempt for efficiency went ahead and picked up the party favors a month and a half ahead of time. Which brings me to Lesson # 2202: Do not purchase gifts or anything related to a birthday theme until the absolute last minute. About two weeks before the big day, Hayden decided he wanted a Batman and Robin party. He also continuously requested that he wanted Batman ‘on top of it’. I can only assume he meant the cake, so I pushed my obsessive compulsive nature to the side and ordered a Batman cake. I had to pat myself on the back…how nice was I to let him have a cake theme different than the gift bag theme. If that’s not a flexible-easy-going-mom, I don’t know what is.

The morning of the party, I excitedly told Hayden, “Happy Birthday! Now you are three years old!” That nearly brought him to tears.
Hayden: NO! But I am still 2 years old
Lisa: No, Today is your birthday, today you are 3 years old.
Hayden: NO! I am still 2 years old
Repeat…Repeat…Repeat…
Lisa: (to Jeff) Fine, let’s just drop it.
It wasn’t until after his birthday party when he finally acknowledged he was now 3 years old. We figured it out...it is Hayden’s belief that you do not officially age until your birthday party. If we could all be so lucky! Maybe that is why Mimi is still only 32.

We had the party at Pump It Up. For those of you who have never been, it is a blast. It is a giant room filled with bounce houses and even adults can join in on the fun….and you can bet we did. We may have kids, but we’re definitely not grown-ups yet. Like I said, we had a joint birthday party for Hayden and Davis since they are only 4 days apart. I am sure we broke every parenting rule in the book by doing so, but it was cheaper and Davis will never know…until he reads this one day. No, in all seriousness, we kept warning him that if he didn’t speak up and tell us what kind of party he wanted, he was going to have to celebrate at the same time as Hayden. And that’s what happened.

Many of Hayden’s friends from school were able to be there despite the fact that Chloe and Bella also had birthday parties the same day. That being said, the person Hayden most wanted there was Mary. Mary is his ‘girlfriend’ that was transferred to another school. She’s cute and sweet, but if you recall one of my earlier blogs, she was the child whose mother requested we banish cereal from the daycare center. I figure I will worry about the relationship later if it starts getting more serious. For now, you could call it a ‘long-distance’ relationship. Anyway, Hayden was so excited that she was there that he shouted it over and over as the poor high school worker attempted to tell 117 rules to a group of three year olds. I don’t know if it was the cake or the ice cream, but Hayden was definitely in his element---not a bit shy. Both boys received a ton of new toys and we’re so thankful to have so many friends and family members to share the day with.

All in all, the weather was perfect and the party was fun. It was the second party of the day. We had spent the previous two hours at the skating rink celebrating Alexis’ birthday. It brought me back to memories of snow skiing….me trying to help and Hayden convinced he’s already a professional and “can do it by himself.” Needless to say, by the time we finally made our way off of the rink Hayden had taken his fair share of falls.

So, I’m a competitive person…it’s in my blood!
Anyone reading this probably already knows I am a competitive person. I compete in diet competitions…and win I might add. I compete at work…but subtly. I race myself taking a shower to see if I can beat my best time. Okay, that last one probably could have fallen into the ‘Betch Didn’t Know’ section, but it’s not, so consider it a bonus. Point is: I am a competitive person. By the end of the birthday party at Pump It Up, some of the adults (including myself) were racing heats through the obstacle course. I lost every time, but Jeff was victorious. During these races, I did notice the questionable stares from some of the other moms, but really didn’t give it much thought until a few days later when I was examining my scabbed elbow that I had hurt while racing. It was then that I started to wonder….what makes some people competitive, when others could care less about winning? I started having flashbacks. Who could hula-hoop the longest? Who could do more cartwheels? Who takes the faster bath…me or Matt? My life was a competition. It was only the week before that I stood in the front yard of my grandparents’ house and had wheelbarrow races with Nicci, Jeff and my Great Aunt Kay. Then it hit me! Competition is in my blood. If my Great Aunt who is 70-something is still willing to pick up my husbands legs and compete in a wheelbarrow race, I’m thinking it must be a genetic condition that I was born with. I’ll admit I’m probably a bit too competitive. I don’t necessarily want Hayden and Davis to be as competitive as me. I just hope neither of them is the kid picking daisies in out field. When I was younger, that kid was Erin the Airhead. I still remember.

A Moment of Insanity
Mimi and GrandDad had a moment of insanity recently and volunteered to fly Hayden, Davis, and Peyton to Amarillo so we would not have to make the 6-hour drive with them. To which Jeff and I immediately responded, “SURE!” I must admit that I felt a little guilty for being so willing to let my parents learn the hard way that a “quick 1 hour flight” is not so quick and easy when you have 3 kids under 3 with you. Lugging 4 suitcases, 3 carseats, 3 babies, 2 carry-ons, and a stroller is pure craziness…and that is assuming the babies are in good moods. They’re both sticking to their story that it was “really not that bad”, but I’d be shocked if another offer like that ever comes around again. They say that at one point, the pressure got to Hayden’s ears so he just started repeating, “I CAN’T HEAR MYSELF.” I can only assume it was not in his “inside voice”. Needless to say, I definitely enjoyed the peacefulness that was the 6 hour drive to Amarillo. I was able to sleep some, read a little magazine gossip, and never once had to hold a pacifier in anyone’s mouth. We went to Amarillo to attend my GrandDad’s birthday party. However, contrary to popular belief, it was not his 80th birthday party…just ask Melissa who gave him a card aging him by two years J. The boys had a ball at the birthday party playing with the cousins and just being boys, but to this day Hayden still thinks the only reason we went to Amarillo was to meet ‘Keith the Captain.’ My dad went to high school with Keith who later grew up to be a fireman. So in typical GrandDad fashion, he called up his old buddy and asked him if he could introduce Hayden to a real, live fireman-captain and also got a behind-the-scenes tour of the fire house….a boy’s dream! Mom and I split off and went shopping, but from what I hear, Hayden loved it.

Betcha Didn’t Know
And the section you’ve been waiting for… ’Betcha Didn’t Know’ . Mica committed to doing 50 of these, so I guess I can too. Recently we were supposed to have a ‘fun’ staff meeting at work and everyone in the group (of 100+) was supposed to submit an interesting fact people may not know. In my quest to be the best (see above, it’s in my blood), I fretted over it for days. I asked my mom. I asked Jeff. Both pretty much came to the same conclusion…I’m not all that interesting. At first, I disagreed, but at the staff meeting, it was clear…there was no way I was going to be the most interesting person in the group. I was surrounded by people who went to school with the Bush twins…had once worked as a mall Santa…hired the guy that murdered John Lennon…accidentally swallowed their tongue ring. I was married at 19 so I really never lived on the edge, so to speak. The most interesting fact I could come up with was that I was once attacked by a rooster. Sure it happened when I was 3, and it definitely doesn’t define my life, but it was a fact no one I worked with knew about, and until it was compared with the others, I thought it was a little interesting. I have since changed my mind, which is why you can consider that another bonus fact. My real ‘betcha didn’t know’ fact is that I once swallowed a cockroach. I took a swig out of an old Coke can that was sitting out and it had a dead roach inside of it. Blah! Yuck! This incident also happened in my pre-teen years, but it was gross…I still remember it …and you didn’t know about it. I will try to think of something a little more recent in the future, but until next time, I will leave you with the vision of me and cockroaches.

Other Tid-Bits For Ya:
God Bless You: Allergy season is upon us and you can tell this by the number of times Jeff sneezes on a daily basis. Davis has turned into quite the comedian by imitating him every time he sneezes and then laughing hysterically.

Random Quotes:
“Donkey’s don’t have hands and cookies don’t talk” -Hayden Lyle 10/2006. It may seem out of context to you, but just so you know, it seemed just as out of context to us. We have no idea where it came from.

“I’m not going to be shy when I meet God.” -Hayden Lyle 10/2006. Us: Good because he already knows you!