Hugs = God's Medicine

It never fails. A hug from my kids always lightens my heart. No matter what may be going 'round in my head, when one of my 'babies' reaches for me...the world instantly becomes a better place.

Like I've mentioned before, I'm still one of the lucky ones whose kids aren't (yet) embarrassed to hold my hand or run to give me a hug when I pick them up from school. I'm totally and completely blessed I get to pick them up from school. I know it might not always be that way.

But, for today, I'm thankful I can. Belle's face lit up when she saw me waiting for her, ran for me and jumped in my arms to the sounds of moms standing around saying, "I remember when my kids used to do that." Then Ben came around the corner a few minutes later and ran right to me and gave me a huge hug saying, "Hi mom!! How was your day?" Nothing extraodinary that they did it today. They do it every day. Today I just soaked it in a little more.

A mom standing nearby commented, "Wow...you're lucky. My kids run right passed me."

Lucky doesn't even begin to describe it.

I love you guys. And by the way - thanks for loving me.

xoxoxoxoxo ~Mom

Hello Kitty vs. Ticonderoga

As I was digging around in unpacked boxes in our garage yesterday, desperately seeking my Macromedia Dreamweaver CD so I could reinstall it on my recently crashed computer...I came across a little unopened sleeve of the cutest "girly" pencils. I must have bought them in the $1 section at Target some time ago thinking they would be perfect for my Belle.

I put them inside on the kitchen counter and, of course, forgot about them. Until this morning.

I excitedly announced to Belle I had found something I previously bought for her and forgot about. Yea! I surprise! I always loved surprise purchases from my mom when I was little!

"Look Shelby! Pink, sparkly Hello Kitty pencils!"

A strange look comes across her face and she manages a small smile to try and be grateful.

"Umm, Momma...I'm in first grade now. We don't really like Hello Kitty anymore. They're kind of baby-ish."

WHAT'S THIS?!! I wanted to say, 'You are 6 years old! Who doesn't like Hello Kitty? I see the 6th graders with Hello Kitty stuff!'

Instead, I just answered with "Oh. Okay. I can use them. No problem." She apologized, feeling bad I had got her something and she was embarrassed to use it. I let her know it was really okay and I would enjoy using them because I still thought HK was cool.

Seriously though...6 years old. What kind of pencil IS cool to a 6 year old girl you might ask? Apparently for MY six year old, either a plain colored (sparkles optional) or the ole reliable yellow Ticonderoga pencil.

Maybe this is a sign she won't be a slave to trends. Nahhh....I've still got that comin'.

From the Same Cloth

We are just starting to realize the number of similarities between our Belle and her daddy. She may not look like him, as her big bro does, but oh my word does she show some crazy comparable traits.

Primping. Yes I said primping. D is a primper, just like Belle is. Both can look at themselves in the mirror for hours.
Shoes. A love to admire and purchase them, but not necessarily wear them.
Clothes. An extreme desire to NOT wear clothes.
Water. Both love, love, love it. Lake, ocean, pool, rain...you name it. They love it.
Music. Both adore it. Both are tone deaf (though I don't think D is; he does) and both can NOT get the lyrics correct.
Surf and Turf. These two are smitten with steak and shrimp. Shelby more of the popcorn shrimp variety, but you should see her tear into a ribeye. Keep your fingers out of the way!
Travel. Motorcycles, planes, cars, visiting new places, you name it. These two are crazy about going and doing.
Temperature. May have something to do with the preference for no clothes, as they are both warm natured.
Snoozin'. Both can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Whether you're mid-sentence or their head barely touches the pillow - when they are ready to sleep, it's "And to all a good night..." as far as they're concerned.

I know there's more and D will no doubt say, "You forgot about...", but c'mon. Isn't this enough for now?

I'm a Twit

I've finally conceded to trying Twitter. My interest in it grew as I was thinking of subjects to blog about and realized, "Nah...not really much to write about that, but interesting/funny to think about!" So I thought I'd just tweet about my little moments of observation and it would post to the side of my blog.

If for nothing else, for me to look back on and remember, 'Oh yeah. That was the day that very strange guy sitting outside at Starbucks and wearing spandex from head-to-toe winked and nodded at me as he was listening to Purple Rain full blast on his iPod while I was going through the drive-through.' Ewwwww. Am I going to be able to keep my nonfat caramel machiatto down? Thanks a lot.

On second thought...maybe it's best not to remember everything.

Oh well. Guess I'll see soon enough.