Zombie Grandpas...

Yesterday afternoon Dave and I were driving in the car with JonJon in the back seat. The child is obsessed with all things military, so when we passed up a VFW hall that had an old tank sitting out front it opened up a flood gate of questions.

JonJon: Is that an Army tank?

Dave: yes it is

JonJon: Did your daddy ride in that tank?

Dave: No, my daddy worked on airplanes and rode on boats (father-in-law was in the air force for a while then moved to the navy).

JonJon: Oh, Mommy did your daddy ride in that tank?

Me: No, my daddy was a sailor and worked with computers (probably insanely boring in the mind of a 5 year old who wanted to hear that our dads went to war with guns blazing taking out all the bad guys).

JonJon now disappointed: oh...did they get dead?

Dave: Uh, no. Mommy and Daddy's dads are your grandpas, they aren't dead.

JonJon sighing like we stated the obvious: I know that they are my grandpas. But they could be dead. I think they are zombies.

I'm A Big Fat Meanie Head...

Sometimes being a parent makes you have to be the bad guy. My oldest is currently upset with me. I told him he could not go to his survival camp out with the scouts tonight. It is supposed to drop down to 17 degrees and the only shelter they will receive is a trash bag. I know it is a survival camp out but come on. This is something that should be done when the weather isn't so extreme. That news resulted in the lovely teen reaction of "fine I'll just sit here with my lip stuck out and not talk to anyone". Followed by him going outside sans coat, shoes, and socks in the 30 degree windy weather we had and laying on the concrete driveway for 2 minutes to prove to me how tough he was. He almost convinced me with his logic, almost.

Will I Be The Creepy Old Person...

Just a few months ago my dear sister-in-law got me sucked into the Twilight series (oh lookie a pun lol). Before I started page one I was thinking that since these were written for teens that should hold my interest for all of about five minutes. Four days and three books later (darn family, always needing stuff like food slowing me down) I was well and truly a fan that could not wait to get her greedy hands on book four just to find out what happened between Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Now after the reading the last book and dealing with the let down of no more story I await the movie. The question is, do I go to the theater with the throngs of squealing teenage girls half my age? Do I take my daughter along just so I can look like I was the one dragged there? Do I wait for the dvd? (not sure I can hold out that long) Or do I just call up my sis-in-law and the two of us sit proudly in the seats of the movie and get our Twilight fix? Seriously I can stop at any time.

Those of you that read this that are Twilight fans, you might want to look into the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. It's similar yet made for a more grown up crowd.

Yay For Grown Up Night...

Tomorrow my wonderful husband has a birthday. Part of mom-in-law's present is she always lets all the grandkids spend the night so we can go out on a date. We decided to use our date time going out to dinner and going to the theater (maybe a trip to the river boat casino after if we feel like it). So for dinner we will be going to a lovely little Italian restaurant on The Hill (for you non-locals that is the area where many Italian immigrants settled) called Zia's. They have the most awesome toasted raviolis I've ever had and their salad dressing is to die for. If you ever come for a visit you MUST eat here at least once. Oh and it's on the corner of Edwards and Wilson, how perfect is that? After dinner we will be going to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see Sweeney Todd. I don't really know what Sweeney Todd is about but the few performances I have seen at the Fox were wonderfully entertaining, I have no doubt this will be too. Besides it isn't often I can get all dressed up. And the great part about the kids spending the night is we don't have to rush home. There is always a bit of mommy guilt when leaving this kiddos behind but, it is oh so nice to have some time away where we can just be Missy and Dave instead of Mom and Dad.

I Can't Take Them Anywhere...

Every Sunday it is required that we take a trip to Wal-Mart (blah) to pick up things for the kids' breakfasts and lunches. Usually I try to make this trip sans kids. Anyone who has ever been to a Wal-Mart on a weekend will know it is absolutely insane there. Today we were all out and the store was on the way home so in my mind at the time it made sense to stop then. The five of us walk through the front doors and are greeted by our singing greeter. "Weeeeeelcooooome to Waaaaaaaallllll-Maaaaaarrrrrrrrrt!" I say my silent prayer that I am so glad I do not work there and have to listen to that all day long. Eddie grabs a cart and follows the rest of us to get toothpaste. Before ever crossing off the first item on my list my heels have been run over by the cart, and I've told both of the younger ones they could not swing off my arms today (I have pinched a nerve somewhere and have shooting pain down my arms, chiropractor tomorrow). As I slowly cross off items I have thrown in the cart Dave and I are rambling things like "Don't touch that! Put that down! Jon get over here! Where did Erica go this time? Eddie don't run into anyone!" We get over to the cheese where Dave is searching for some Havarti and the kids are still being a bit wild. Dave sees a hand sneak past him and grab for a block of cheese and he smacks it and says "Stop grabbing stuff!" The hand pulls back minus the cheese and suddenly a woman starts laughing behind us. We turn around and she is rubbing her hand and says "I take it you've said that a few times in here." Yes my husband smacked a strange woman. He was very apologetic and embarrassed. If I recall though the woman left without her cheese. At least someone listens.

Friday Find...

My daughter has always been one of those kids that got 100% on her spelling tests without ever having to study. Up until this year that is. Her first F on a spelling test devastated her. I frantically tried to help her study for her words for the next week. We said them out loud together, she wrote them 5-20 times each, I tried to teach her little tricks (like together is spelled to-get-her), and we even sang the words out. The next test a D. I couldn't understand what the huge difference was between last year and this year. So I asked her what her teacher is doing differently than last year. I found out last year every day they would play spelling games. So I have a light bulb moment and do a quick google (yes it is a verb now) of online spelling games. Spellingcity.com is one that came up. It allows me to type in her weekly words and then she can play a number of games like word scramble, hangman, and fill in the missing letter. It will also test her. She loves it and will play it over and over again. And the most amazing thing, the first week we used spelling city she came home with an A. Who knew you could learn more when you're having fun?