Welcome to the blogging community, where you may or may not know your neighbors.

Thank you to Lynilu who stopped by and left a note and the title for this post.

For the past 11 years I have had the privilege of share every morning with The Old Man. We have always gotten up together and prepared for the day. Many days this is the only time we can have a conversation without something having to be spelled out to avoid the lingering little ears. Yesterday's conversation went something like this....

The Old Man "Hey, I was reading Tammy's blog last night." I FROZE in my tracks. Not that I mind him reading Tammy's blog (other than I quickly tried to figure out if it was Half Nekkid Thursday) but I had never told him about mine. He actually asked, "what happened to your blog". He was referring to the initial blog attempt where I quickly realized every serial killer who attempts to secure government housing from The Old Man could easily locate my family. I informed him I had changed the name and patiently waited for him to voice his displeasure.

The Old Man is an EXTREMELY private individual. I, however, will tell anyone anything. Makes for very entertaining evenings when I have to accompany him to a City function and try to play the wife. I inevitably end up telling someone some story about him snoring, talking in his sleep or worse and end up in the dog house when we get home. So, I just assumed that he would not be thrilled about me posting the happenings in the Shoe for the whole world to see. Oddly, he was cool with it. Guess after 11 years, he's still full of surprises.

Where this leads me is to the Blogging revelation. While I just picture this to be the world where each of us somehow connected through The Kept Woman post our thoughts and check in on each other's lives, your really don't know who's out there checking in. Keep in mind it very well may be The Old Man.

Gotta Love the Independent 3rd Child

Last night I had trouble falling asleep and just as I gave up just falling asleep and decided to read some fluff novel in hopes to get my mind off everything. I snuggled in and then heardthe Doodlebug moving around in her bed. Next thing she is standing in my bedroom with a cup in her hand asking for "Milk please". I scooped her up and she put her head on my sholder basically going back to sleep being that it was a little after 1:00 a.m. I did get her some water and returned her to her bed. I got back in bed and no sooner had I settled down than I heard her again. She showed back up in my room with the sweetest face and just simply held up her cup and asked "more". I got her more water and snuggled with her on the couch for just a moment. Put her back in her bed and finally didn't hear any more from her until this morning.

I have no doubt if she were 6 inches taller she would have helped herself to a glass of water and put herself back to bed.

6 reasons not to mess with a child

I have been SWAMPED at the office trying to catch up from being out with Doodlebug while breathing through the mud that has taken up residency in my nose. I received this in an e-mail from a co-worked and felt it worthy of a lazy posting.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, " What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill." One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed thather mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white. "The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,'or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, She's dead.. " A

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching." Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples.

You can force her to take medicine but....

your 18 month-old is likely then to just throw it up on your foot. Such was the scene this morning at the Shoe. While I believed it to be pure spite which lead to this episode, Daycare has now sent the Doodlebug home with a stomach virus. This virus on top to the cold she and I seem to be unable to shake makes for a wonderful Monday.

Meanwhile, yesterday the Sister was able to meet the soon-to-be newest member of the Shoe. In reward for her amazing ability to be resposible for her siblings, the Old Man and I decided to let her get a kitten. Luckily for us a secretary at our office took in a stray that had kittens on May 23rd. So, we were able to visit yesterday and pick out the one we will adopt so that she can find homes for the remaining 3 and the momma cat. The Sister immediately fell in love with the only female and it is the Monster who now asks every day, when can we bring home the kitten.

Time Flies....

The Doodlebug had her 18 month check-up yesterday. In answering the question from the previous post, it must have been the angle at which that photo was taken because Doodlebug measured in the 60% for height and for weight. She did measure +95% for head measurement (read extremely large brain). Her weight has leveled off and so I have hopes that she will grow into that baby fat.

Meanwhile, I also received the Monster's 3-year portraits. For those who may recall the 1-year portraits in which he was crying, these are much improved.



All of this while I am still trying to cope with the Sister's (gotta find a better nickname) kindergarten graduation. She has also just completed her first Vacation Bible School. She has grown so incredibly much just this week that I don't know what to do.

There seems to stopping this passing of time thing.

Extremely Short Or Just A Bad Photo

Day Care has apparently recently acquired a digital camera and while I could not be more thrilled to have daily "candids" of my youngest two in action, today's candid provides an overly worried mother an area for concern.

At her 15 month check-up Doddlebug charted in the 15 percentile for height (out of respect for Doodlebug we won't mention where she charted for weight). At that time her doctor thought it likely to be the fact that she was screaming uncontrollably and despised the fact that people were getting into her personal space [I will have to remember to Blog about the amazing fact that I gave birth to Tammy's child] and thus the measurement was not accurate. However, take a glance at this photo and let me know what you think. The Doodlebug would be the one that cannot stand in line with the others and has to be the star up front.

Now, in continuation from the Cutting Off of the Head (see below), following is the Monster's photo. He would be the one reaching for the neck of the little girl standing next to him, and no she is not the one he traumatized. While his behavior has made a dramatic improvement with the return of the sister, he still has his moments.

Your Parents Are Going To Cut Your Head Off

Humor me while I leap into the Blog world I always swore to avoid but my dear friend Tammy at Rant & Ravin Haven dragged me kicking and screaming into your Blog world.

I am the working mother of three children under the age of 6.

My son, The Monster and the middle at 3 years old, provided the material Tammy felt was worthy of an initial posting.

The Monster has been exhibiting normal 3 year old behavior which includes both good and bad moments. However, his older sister was at "Boots" Camp (an explanation for another post) for a week and the adjustment to the fact eliminated any "good" moments. The final straw occurred at Day Care on Wednesday. While at snack, he looked and the precious little girl setting next to him and informed her "Your parents are going to cut your head off." When asked where he got such an idea, he proudly boasted "Star Wars". Being the proud parent I am, I expected his head to spin wildly and for him to begin profusely vomiting at any moment.

Luckily the sister has returned and yesterday yielded some "good" moments, however, I am certain there will plenty of more stories to come.

Please comment to let me know you are out there.