Yep, that says it all.....

Hi friends! I'm back! Sorry for the disappearing act, this week has been hectic. Spring Break started and you would think that it would be a nice relaxing week... yeah, no. We had that wedding last weekend, then dinner with friends the next night where The Princess decided to act like a crazy person and break a glass, then proceeded to throw up. Nice..... So back home we went! Then all week, she and I have been not feeling too great. I think it's just a minor cold, since neither of us has fever, but it's just enough to make us feel like crap. Now Easter is about to hit, which entails trying to spend time with both sets of families so they don't get their feelings hurt! I think we have it all figured it out though. So on Thurs., The Princess had an Easter party at school, and I took some pictures of her afterwards at home. She was in a pretty good mood, but I think the cold started kicking in. The picture says it all......

Man, I love this kid!!

I baked it myself!!

Well, I may have found a new passion! This past weekend, I was invited to a baby shower for a co-worker of mine. I was having trouble buying a gift because this couple has decided not to find out the sex of their baby.... yeah, they want to be surprised. Not to judge, but this makes absolutely no sense to me. Don't you want to be able to register for gender specific things? I mean, there is pretty much only one color to buy someone who does this, and that's yellow. And my God, how much yellow do you really want in your home? Oh well... I have gotten off track. So as I was struggling with what to buy, I remember hearing about something called a Diaper Cake. It is a relatively new concept and they are really cute if you've seen one. I called the hostesses to see if they were going to get the mommy-to-be one, and they said they weren't. Then I started to scour the internet to see what I could come up, and how exactly to make one. I was able to find very detailed instructions, so I set off to the store for supplies. I got some cute ribbons, silk flowers and some other cute accessories and went home to get started. Well, I worked my little heart out and finally finished. I think it turned out ok, and when I went to the shower, everyone was really impressed! I was so excited!! Anyway, I am including a few pictures of the cake, so please let me know what you think!

Kisses Anyone?

Well, these last 2 weeks have been very hectic! I had a Bachelorette party I helped throw for a friend last weekend in San Antonio, and that was fun. I got to catch up with a friend whom I haven't seen a whole lot recently, (she lives in Dallas) and that was just awesome! I love road trips, such good times! Anyway, after that trip, I came back and had to deal with my crazy kids at school. This week was ok, but I tell you what, I have been thrown into a situation that just boggles my mind. Out of 14 kids, we have 3 that are in therapy and 1/4 of the kids parents are divorced. The kids who parents are divorced are our most difficult children too. Wow, who would have thought... It really irritates me when parents think they are doing their kids a favor by splitting up... now I do understand certain situations such as physical abuse, drug abuse, etc. But it seems like nowadays when people just get tired of their significant other, the only option is to divorce and these poor kids are left to deal with that. I mean, they decided to marry this person in the first place.. why no go to a counselor? Ok, I am getting off my rant now...I might start to say things I might regret.

Cute story of the evening: So Phil and I are putting the Princess to sleep and I lay her down in her crib and cover her with a blanket. We tell her goodnight, when she lifts her head up and puckers her lips wanting to give me a kiss. So I lean down, give her a kiss and tell her goodnight again. She lays her head down for a second, then lifts it back up again and puckers her lips again and looks at my husband. So then he leans down and gives her a kiss and tells her goodnight. Well, she decided to repeat this for a good 5 min. going back and forth between my husband and I and we just thought it was the cutest thing ever!! Although we loved this sweetness, we finally had to tell her goodnight one final time and close the door. I mean, she is really the sweetest littl girl ever!

God Bless You

Ok friends, this is probably gonna be short and sweet. As I have previously mentioned, I am a teacher's aide for 3 yr. olds. I absolutely love my job, but this job requires something that is very hard for me to do. Whenever the kids say something either funny or just completely idiotic, I have to keep a straight face as to not hurt their feelings. Lucky for me, they usually do the funny stuff, which I can handle so much better. Now I have heard some pretty funny/cute things in the past, but today I heard something that might just take the cake. Here's how it went:

Student A: (Achoo) He actually did sneeze

Lead Teacher: God Bless You

Student B: (different kid who was standing next to Student A) Well, he blessed all over my neck.

Seriously this was much funnier in person. The face this kid made was just priceless. Anyway, I just thought I would share that with you all. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Horton Hears A What?!

So it's been a while.. so sorry for the absense. A lot has been going on. We finally got through the Princess's 2nd Birthday! We had a party for her and her classmates and it went really well. Then we had Valentine's Day..that was fun! She had yet another party at school, and of course those are always fun. (Note the sarcasm here.) The parties themselves are great, but it's the end of the parties that is always the worse. The Princess gets all excited when I show up, (I work at the school she attends, FYI) but when it comes time for me to leave, she throws herself on the floor and starts screaming and crying. Well, the teacher in me says,ok just give her a kiss and tell her goodbye, but the Mommy in me wants to just grab her and hug her and just cuddle her until she stops crying. Needless to say, this is gut-wretching. Sometimes being a parent just really sucks. I just hate the decisions you have to make. I don't want her to be the only kid without a parent coming to the parties, but I also don't want to traumatize her every time I leave. So the guilt sinks in. Seriously, sucks.

Ok moving on. So I have a goofy sense of humor. Yeah, can you believe it? I love a good movie that leaves me with my sides hurting. I need to mention however, that I have yet to take the Princess to a movie out in public yet. She has seen movies in the comfort of our home, where if she starts acting like a hooligan we can stop the movie and tell her to grow up or she'll start having to buy her own movies. Well, I just saw the trailer for "Horton Hears A Who"... oh.... my .... gosh. I am SO excited, if only for the fact that the main voices will be Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell! So awesome! This actually looks like something I can take the Princess to without her having a meltdown. And to top it off, it comes out Mar. 14th, which is the beginning of our Spring Break! So this is just a warning for anyone who might be going to this movie in Houston during that week, if you see an overly excited woman toting along a 2 yr. old who might look less than amused, chances are, it is me! I will try to keep my excitement down to a bare minimum.

I will slap you into next week!

This is gonna be a shout out to all the parents out there... So luckily "The Princess" has not yet displayed all the traditional aspects of being a "typical 2 yr. old". I have heard stories and let me tell you, I have been dreading it for some time, but honestly she is a really easy going child. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments where she does not want to do something so she pulls the, 'well I am just gonna go limp, so let's see you how you like that' and that is always fun. But I honestly thought that maybe by the time kids turned 3, something magical happened and they would grow out of that behavior. Apparently I was wrong. So I have this one child in my class that is a spoiled brat in every sense of the word. The dad carries... yes, carries.. the child in every morning. This is the first mistake. Now I understand that kids have bad mornings just like adults and need some extra TLC, but this has been going on since Aug. and it is a daily occurance. I am pretty sure I have not seen this kid walk in on their own to this day. Anyway, other than that, the dad also gets outs the snacks and puts it up for the child. Second mistake....we try to promote kids being responsible for themselves and their belongings in our class. This helps boost their self-esteem especially when they accomplish something on their own for the first time. So back to this kid, another big problem is that dad carries all the belongings too, so when it comes time to go home, the child claims that all the stuff is too heavy to carry. (I have to pause and take a big sigh here.) The other problem is the fact that this kid gets everything from the parents. Seriously, it's sickening. This kid is also defiant, which goes hand in hand with the spoiled thing. This kid has many times told me that they are not going to eat their lunch, which I respond by saying, "Fine, then throw it away and go lay down on your mat for nap time", which gets the response, "No, no, no.. ok, I will eat it." Yeah that's right!! You had better do what I say. Sometimes when this child is in a particularly fiesty mood, I get this response, "Well, I don't want you to talk to me. I am not going to do what you say." This is honestly when I want to say, "Oh yeah.. well if I was your parent, I would slap you into next week." Man alive, the defiant thing is seriously the most annoying thing to me. I am praying for our daughter's sake that she never utters these words to me... I don't know how I will react because if I want to beat the crap outta some kid that isn't even mine... then God help my own child!!

To be or not to be....inflatable

Howdy friends! I know it has been a few days since I last wrote... it seems as if I have no time for anything anymore. The Princess's birthday is coming up very soon (about a week) and I am trying to get her party together. I have been having the good old debate about what kind of party a 2 yr. old needs. My inital thought was to take her to one of those inflatable places where the kids have free range to run around and the place provides everything but the cake. Sounds good right? Well, it sounded pretty good to me until I heard the words..."Yeah, and that will run you about $299." After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I politely told them I would call them back after discussing it with my husband. By the way, his reply,"Uh, hell no!" That might not seem a lot to some of you, but seriously... 300 bucks for several 2 yr. olds who can barely talk. I mean, if I am gonna spend that kind of money, I at least want my kid to brag. Oh hell... I would want all the other kids to brag about how cool a party it was. So I quickly dismissed that idea and turned my attention to places like Gymboree and The Little Gym.. but behold.. I was again stricken with the ol, "250" quote. And they provided even less than the inflatable places! So after much debate.. I am going to have the party at a park near our home. It has a Tot Lot and lots of other ammenties.... let's just pray the weather holds out.

Driving to China

I may have neglected to tell you all, but I am a teacher's aide. Of 3 yr. olds. Yep, it is definitely an interesting job. I have really come to embrace the saying, "Out of the mouths of babes..." So during the year, we have themes where we sometimes ask the kids open-ended questions to see what they can come up with. For example, last year we asked the kids where they lived and one little boy answered, "McDonald's". I bet his parents are proud! So today the question was, Where is your favorite place to go in the car? Here are some of the answers I received:

• China (Personal favorite)
• To Christmas
• Hotel
• To Pump It Up (a local inflatable place for kids..)
• Chucky Cheese
• To the airport

So all in all, some funny stuff. I seriously could start a book on all the funny things I hear from these kids. Now I will tell you about my all time favorite quote so far this year. Here's the backstory: I have a child who has been a little difficult and almost everyday I have to talk to the parents about the behavior that this child displays. So one morning, the father is dropping off the child and is giving a stern warning about behaving and says, "Now, if you're good, we will take you to Chucky Cheese." At this point, another student was standing nearby listening to this and approaches the father and says matter of factly, "Hey mister, my dad says Chucky Cheese is a rip off." Classic. Needless to say, the father and I burst out laughing and the poor child had no idea why.

My Dirty Little Secret

I will start my very first entry with a confession. I am obsessed with celebrity gossip. I know, it is completely ridiculous, but I can't help myself. Many years ago, I could have cared less about the lives of celebrities, as long as they could put out a good movie,cd etc. But due partly to websites like PerezHillton and TMZ, now I can know all my favorite celebrities dirty little secrets. One reason I think I am so obsessed is because it makes me feel better knowing these people who are so idolized have real problems too. I mean honestly, doesn't it make you feel a little better knowing that although they have money, some just blow it on houses they don't even live in, drugs, bad clothes and countless divorces. I know I always feel just a little better about myself when I read about it. Ok, so don't hold that against me. Although I could go on and rant about this all night, I won't bore you with that.
Ok, so the cutest thing happened to me the other day. I was rocking my daughter, aka: The Princess, right before putting her to bed. So here's the visual: It's very dark, she has her head on my shoulder and I am singing to her. I then whisper to her:

Me: "I love you sweety, lots."

The Princess: "Love you."

Me: "Really, you love Mommy?"

The Princess: "Yeah, lots."

How sweet is that? You have to understand here that she is about to turn 2 here in about three weeks. She has been babbling forever, and about six months ago she slowly started to talk. So far she has only said one word at a time until now. This is a whole new thing for me since she is our first child. Anyway, I will wrap this up for now. I hope everyone has a great week!

Mama G