I think I’m done with this whole blog thing!  I started this site when Madeline was just a few months old as a way to keep a record of her special milestones… since I’m so not the scrapbooking type!  Later this month she will be five.  And later this year she’ll be starting kindergarten.  It’s been an interesting journey to say the least. 

If you want to keep in touch, I’m on Facebook (Stacy Romig Stinson).  And my flickr page is continually updated (link to the right).  Please, do, stop by!

So the ex-hubby is laying on his bathroom floor, suffering from a migraine, and he calls to ask for my help.  (I’m sympathetic.  When he gets migraines, they’re BAD).  The current beau (ah, such an old fashioned word) offers to go to the pharmacy and buy him some meds specifically for migraines.  (Excedrin Migraine… it’s the best… it’ll knock out his migraine within a half hour).  So the beau is out now, in the cold, icy, miserable rain, while I sit at home in my cozy sunporch… in my PJ’s… listening to Christmas music… enjoying a nice mug of hot cocoa.  Can you feel the Christmas cheer?

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Christmas.

Out of all the freakin’ cats out there, why did I end up with the one who needs kitty prozac????  The vet determined tonight that he is overly agressive, ok… downright nasty, and recommended he be medicated. The vet even had to skip the dental exam for her own safety.

Yep, that’s my luck… yet another troubled male in my life! 

I did it.  Well, actually, my sister and I did it together.  And we enjoyed every minute of our all night escapade. 

Get your mind out of the gutter people… I’m talking about Black Friday shopping of course!  We started with a movie, then a midnight madness sale… then breakfast… then off to the 5 am store openings.  The wee hours of the morning and I don’t typically get along, but it turns out that those hours aren’t so bad if you never go to bed.  This was my first time going out on Black Friday and braving the crowds.  My sister talked me into trying it and we ended up having a great time together, and at the same time found some great bargains.  I’m happy to say that I’m at least 50% done with my Christmas shopping.  Yahoo! 

And now, the tree…

Should I be concerned that a good number of Mo’s drawings or paintings look strikingly similar to a certain part of the male anatomy? 

To all those who get Christmas cards with Mo’s art work, don’t be alarmed.  Afterall, Christmas trees are not always perfectly shaped, right?  And balloons can have strings wider than the balloon itself, and… well… lollipops can sometimes be defective! 

Oh - the joys of a 4 year old imagination!

I think there’s something seriously wrong with our beloved cat Oscar!  He bites.  I’m not talking about playful little nips....  I’m referring to the kind of bites that break the skin and leave marks.  I could be walking past him… and out of nowhere he attacks.  When I’m sleeping, he’ll think nothing of jumping on the bed and biting my leg.  It’s gotten to the point where Mo is actually afraid of him.  I initially thought this was a phase he’d grow out of, but no such luck.  The vet’s advice is to isolate him when he bites.  Yeah, ok.  Been there, done that a thousand times over.  Doesn’t work.  Any advice out there?

The playlist on my ipod has been changed to Christmas music (much to SN’s chagrin).  I’m ready to get the decorations out now…

Every night, usually during our bedtime routine, I ask Mo to describe her sunshine (best part) and cloud (worst part) of the day.  I’ve been following this routine for nearly a year, and I positively cherish this part of our day.  Her answers give me such insight into her world, things that I probably would have never learned otherwise.  Last night’s cloud was about her friends in school, named Gabby and Lauren, and how they can’t seem to make up their minds about whether they like her or not.  She sadly explained that these two girls are her best friends some days, and that they don’t like her, and are mean to her, on other days.  She wanted to know why they don’t like her every day. 

Oh.my.goodness.  That fierce protective motherly instinct in me kicked into overdrive.  I wanted to scoop her up and protect her from every possible sadness she’ll ever encounter.  She’s only 4. There are a lot of sad and disappointing moments ahead of her.  How’s a mother to cope???? 

The interesting thing, though, is that it confirmed the feelings I have about my last post.  We can’t shield our kids from experiencing sadness.  But we should do everything we can, within our power and capability, to ensure the odds are stacked in their favor.  As for little Gabby and Lauren, well… girls will be girls I suppose, even at the young age of 4!  L-girl, I might have to purchase that book you referenced in your comment to my last post!  Does the author delve into the inner workings of a preschooler’s mind?  LOL! 

Tonight when Mo was getting ready to exit the bathroom, I asked her my usual question, “Did you wipe?”.  She said yes.  I then asked if she wiped in both places.  Her answer?  “I’m not gonna lie Mommy. I did not wipe my booty”.  Ninety-nine percent of the time she’s good about wiping, but every now and then she gets lazy and I have to get on her butt about it (no pun intended).  Tonight was classic though.  After I gave her the usual speech and then told her she was going to have a ‘time out’, she became extremely upset… crying, shouting “No, Mommy”, the works.  I’m not particularly fond of Mo’s defiant moments.  When I pointed out the potential for her ‘time out’ to turn into an early bed time, she started rambling something about someone else.  My inquiring mind probed a bit and Mo eventually explained that someone else was making her be a bad girl.  “Who?”, I asked.  “Jesus is making me do bad things”.  WHOA!  When she realized that excuse was no longer viable, she then explained that she was just pretending to be bad.  Ha Ha!  The joke’s on me, right? 

This was the question of the day… the one that nearly made me spit out my drink:

“Mommy, when I was a baby, did you eat me and swallow me to get me in your belly?”

I was observing Madeline play in her dollhouse and I heard some interesting things being said by Mommy Doll:

“Jokey (yep, that’s what she named the kid doll), don’t leave your shoes in the middle of the floor.  Is the kitchen your closet?”

“Do you need to go potty?  Did you wipe Jokey?  Tell me how you wiped.” (Jokey gave a very good answer by the way!)

“Did you wash your hands?  Eeeew.  Jokey, you HAVE to wash your hands.”

“It’s time to go to bed Jokey.  Clean up your toys.  Put your dirty clothes in the basket” (Jokey argued for a bit).  “Jokey, when you make a mess, you have to clean it up.”

At least I can rest assured that Madeline is hearing me. She may not always listen, but the kid definitely gets it!

... Play.  Nope, more like work to distract myself!  Mo is spending the week with her Gram and Grandpa at Camp Star Lake in NJ.  It’s become an annual tradition and she LOVES this week away!  Her Dad and I had breakfast with her on Saturday morning before she left and we were telling her how much we were going to miss her.  We then asked if she was going to call us.  Her answer?  No.  I guess she’s going to be too busy playing on the beach, riding her bike, getting massages and pedicures from Gram, etc. etc.  Oh, the life of a 4 year old!

http://www.nbc.com/Knight_Rider/

Knight Rider is returning.  David Hasselhoff is even going to make a guest appearance.  Good Lord.  What ‘s next?  Remake of the A-Team?  Oooh, how about some Wonder Woman?  We can sit around in our Underoos and reminisce about the good ol’ times!  (I guess I’m showing my age with the underoos comment. Here you go teeny-boppers and twenty somethings… look it up!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underoos).

... I enthusiastically point out Santa Clause to her at a baseball game tonight, and she responds by saying (insert DUH tone here):  “Mommy, Santa Clause is just a mascot.  It’s just a person in there.” Yep, according to Mo, Mommy is clueless!

Before, with nasty overgrown bushes and trees covering the front of the house:

After: 

I’ve been told that summer is a terrible time to plant new stuff, so I have to live with this barren look for a couple of months.  The plus side to this?  I might actually get some decent sunlight in my sunporch!