“Never forget me, because if I thought you would, I'd never leave.” A.A. Milne

by teresa
Ben has reclaimed the cupboard under the stairs.
He has set up a bigger light, blankets and a homework area under there.
The homework area is my kitchen stool, which he scoots up over his outstretched legs for a make shift desk. It's been a while since Ben has ventured under the stairs and I thought he had long since outgrown it. I am so glad he hasn't. Praise the Lord for the little things that touch a mom's heart. Like a middle schooler (and the baby of the family) holding on to that little boy imagination a bit longer.
Before I know it he will have gone from secret clubhouses to holding hands with girls. I don't think my heart can take it.

the leaves are changing...why not the temps?

by teresa


I want it to be cold.
Not freezing cold...but at least chilly.
I want to wear a sweater and jeans and even my stripped scarf.
I want my hair to stay smooth and not frizz from the humidity.
I want to wear colorful socks and broken in loafers.
I want beef stew cookin' in the crockpot and pumpkin muffins baking in the oven.
I want fall weather!

get up and get moving

by teresa
Today is NFL Play 60 day at Ben's school. The halls are covered with posters and the teachers have been promoting it. They want the kids to pledge to play outside 60 minutes everyday. It's a neat program to encourage the kids to get off the couch and moving.
All the students and staff are to wear football jerzies and during gym classes they are playing games.
Ben was excited to wear his ODU jersey and Kristian came over this morning and borrowed his VaTech one.

Ben and Joe before school.

shhhhh....go back to sleep

by teresa

I woke up at 2:53 and thought my alarm was about to go off.
When I saw that I could sleep for 4 more hours, I actually squealed with glee.
I wonder if Chris heard me and thought I was dreaming about him?

vin

and baby makes 9

by teresa

Katy had her baby this morning.
She called and told me he came a little after 4:00am, pretty much just popping out like Maya. I'm glad it was an easy delivery (I'm not saying painless....just uncomplicated).
He weighs 7lbs 13oz and is 20 1/2 inches long (same as Maya when she was born).
I will try and get up there today to snap a pic. and rub that new baby smell all over my face.
They should bottle that smell....it's heavenly.

It sounds like the plot of one of those Davey and Goliath cartoons

by teresa

A full two weeks of school under our belts.

So far so good. The boys love their teachers and have good friends.

Ben's friend Sterling (from soccer team...they shared a b-day party this year) has been having trouble figuring out his locker combination. This is the first year of lockers and Ben loves it. Ben had his combination memorized weeks before school began. Practicing it over and over in his room. Ben found Sterl at his locker long after school had ended. He was frustrated and anxious...trying to open his lock. Ben, the lock master, went to his aid. After Sterl told him his combination, he easily opened it for him. Sterling was so happy and Ben showed him over and over how to do it. The next day he sought Ben out for help after school again. The poor kid just can't get the whole "right, then left a full turn past the first number, then right again.

I praised Ben for helping his friend yet again.

That is until yesterday. Chris, the boy we give a ride to in the afternoon told me a little story. Apparently, Ben went to school this week and straight to Sterling's locker. Having been told Sterling's combination, he undid his lock and turned it around the wrong way and then relocked it. The next day the boys got a giggle watching Sterling struggle on the ground, head flipped around trying to look at the back of his lock to enter the combination.

With friends like that....

Ben and Sterling at their 11th birthday party.

This tape will self-destruct in five seconds

by teresa

I bought new fire extinguishers yesterday.
One for the kitchen and one for upstairs. I also bought one for Lauren, which I will give her if she shows her face around here again. Apparently we are good for tuition, car payment, insurance and a phone...but not a hug. Just sayin'.

This weekend is going to be a busy one. Soccer practice and high school football game tonight, flag football, ODU football and book club tomorrow, church and travel soccer game on Sunday. Not to mention the umpteen college and NFL games on that we look forward to viewing. It will be Green Family Circus in full effect.
I love it!

Katy just called while I was typing. There is a feminine emergency going down that I must attend to. Kristian's Aunt Flow came early. There's only one pad in the house and she's about to get on the bus. You see the problem.
It has been a long time since I bought any such thing (10 yrs.) so I needed lots of details to steer me toward the correct product.

Here are the notes I jotted down during our phone call:
Tampax or Playtex...not sure
green box (crossed out)
green bag
regular length
thin
wings

I am off to take the boys to school and fulfill my menstrual mission. At which time I will take it to school and in a Mission Impossiblesque way get them to Kristian with no one the wiser. There may be cables lowering me from the ceiling, disguises, decoys and knockout gas. I'm a mom....and I get the job done anyway I can.
Wish me luck.

just what I need...more books.

by teresa

Smoothies for breakfast.
Banana, strawberry, pineapple and orange juice.
Not only is it a nutritious way to start the day, but the noise the blender makes also serves as an alarm clock. Toss in a cup of ice and it will even wake the neighbors.

Ben's librarian called yesterday. Apparently she found out that Mrs. Green (aka. library slave) has returned to the middle school. When Nick went to that school her and I were inseparable and I think she intends us to become bff's once again. She called to ask my opinion (and help) for a book fair she is planning. I will gladly do it for access to the books (I get my own library card...some of the best books I have ever read were kid lit.) and for a chance to spy on Ben and Kristian.

gets it.

by teresa

Sitting a few cars behind a handicap bus yesterday morning.
Not gonna lie....I was irritated as heck.
We were running at a late departure due to one of my morning riders sleeping late (I take Ben, Nick and two of Ben's friends to school each morning).
The bus was loading a girl in a wheelchair. It took for-ev-eeeeerrrr to get her in.
Then the bus driver stops to chat it up with the mom in her driveway.
By now, there are about twenty drivers behind me. Everyones cars are inching closer to each other, patience wearing thin, gritting our teeth and trying to find that happy place (there's not much room in my car for a happy place with four boys, four overloaded book bags, a trumpet, two sax's and a clarinet). I was flipping to K-LOVE, trying to find a little MercyMe to get my spirit moving in a better direction. The driver climbs aboard and her STOP sign retracts. phew. Wait...she's still not moving. Another minute ticks by. I can see her inside the bus, milling about. She must be securing the girl or something. Then the car behind her gets fed up and pulls around her. On the two lane road we're sitting on, that is a very dangerous move. He had no idea what was coming from the other side. The driver notices and rushes to her seat. Just as she's pulling off, the black truck in front of me starts to pull around her too. Now she's moving and he's moving beside her and there's a car racing toward him coming from the other direction. Me and the kids are like,"OH CRUD!!" The black truck whips in front of the bus and the bus has to slam on her brakes to avoid a collision. Not cool.
We turn the corner and head toward Nick's school, still talking about the mornings happenings. About 1/4 mile down the road, while passing through one of three school zones we drive through every morning, we see a police car flip his lights on. We look over to see who the contestant of the day is (this guy pulls someone every single morning). It's the black truck! We all scream, "HOORAY!!" He may have experienced a brief victory after passing that bus, but he found the ultimate defeat getting a speeding ticket in a school zone. hahahahahahaha

Comeuppance: A deserved rebuke or penalty.

Embarrassment is an emotional state experienced upon having a socially unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others.

by teresa

As I am sitting in my car, waiting for Ben's school to let out, a car pulls up next to me.
The driver parks and exits the car, heading toward the front doors of the school.
I glance up from my book and gasp, knowing some poor child is about to die from embarrassment in the next five minutes. This lady is entering the school dressed in pajama pants (with a hole in the left cheek...thong), a white strappy tank top (see-thru and toddler size), hot pink bra (with the ripped elastic hanging under one arm), hair pulled up in a rats nest bun on the top of her head and bare foot.
Can you imagine the child's horror when they walk around the corner and find mom waiting dressed like that? Although, it would be a good punishment. Maybe that kid got in trouble at school or ate his mom's pepperidge farm cookies (that's a punishable offense in my house)? I should put together a similar outfit for the next time Nick "forgets" he had homework or Ben gets a note home saying he is a bit too "chatty" in class. Then I will stroll into school donning said outfit and walk up to them and their friends and demand a kiss. I think it would be much more effective than restriction. Don't you?

how to wake your children for school on a Monday morning.....make bacon. It's more effective than an alarm clock

by teresa

The weekend flew by.
We watched tons of college football on Saturday and NFL games on Sunday.
In the middle Chris coached a flag football game and Ben played two soccer games.
His team made their travel league debut Sunday afternoon. They won 4 to 2, but I didn't get any pictures. It was raining most of the game, so I wasn't about to take my precious camera out.

Today I will clean my closet and bring my fall clothes out of the rubbermaid containers. I know it's still in the 80's, but the evenings have been chilly and I am so eager to toss on a jacket or sweatshirt. I love fall fashion!

three years

by teresa

His hands were freckled and stocky and covered in cuts from fixing things.
I see people with his hands and I want to tell them..."you have my daddy's hands."

Three years and we still say, "put that in grandaddy's garage."
I still ask, "can I borrow daddy's truck?"
I tell people,"my parents live next door."
My parents.

I miss you daddy.
love, your teresa jean

*he used to sing this song to my mom*

*cough* *cough*

by teresa

Another school morning.
The smell of Axe and toast in the air (enough to fill your lungs and erase a year off your life).
But at least there is no b.o.
I tried to counter it with a thorough Fabreezing of the entire house to no avail.

I wish I had thought of it first....a spray to cover boy funk. We would be filthy (haha) rich.

That's why we had her when were so young....so she could take over any parenting jobs we don't care for

by teresa

Monday, (Labor Day) sissy took Ben and Kristian to Kings Dominion.
We had received 4 comp. tickets and gladly turned them over to Lauren, since Chris and I have long outgrown roller coasters.
She picked them up late (almost midnight) Sunday night after she got off work, so they could spend the night and leave early the next morning.
They were asleep on the living room floor by the time she arrived, but came to quickly with the stench of an Olive Garden kitchen in the room. It's like being covered in a thousand bread sticks, a pot of alfredo and 50 meatballs. p-u.
The three of them had a blast (Lauren's friend Jasmine went too) and came home late Monday night. I am glad they got to go out of summer with a bang.
Don't feel bad for Nick or Kai.....they wouldn't have gone if you paid for the tickets, a 24 hour buffet and a limo ride to the park. Rides are so NOT their thing.

sign here please

by teresa

We had a record high number of school papers to sign last night ( I say we....but you and me both know it was ME).
My child won't bully, I've read over the grading scale, you have permission to take my child's photo, cheating will be punished, my child is required to do homework, reading is encouraged, proper gym uniforms are required, etc. It's ridiculous that you would have to sign something stating your child will not molest another student during school hours.
Ben, Nick and I sat on the couch, papers spread from here to there, getting all this stuff signed. I pulled out my good pen from the office (cause my handwriting needs to be better than all the other parents handwriting) to get this done. I handed it over to Ben to get his signature on a few things. When repacking the book bags and cleaning up I noticed the cap to my good pen was not on. I fussed at Ben for losing it and tore up the living room trying to find it. Dang irresponsible kids....can't let them touch anything.

Later, when changing for bed I found the pen cap in my bra.
We won't tell Ben that...will we?

I'm baaaaack

by teresa

First day of school here in Virginia.
Another summer come and gone.
Lots of sun, swimming and soccer.
Also, plenty of "I'm bored.", "I hate him!" and "who spilled that?".
I have been up for hours (usually the boys and I don't roll out of bed before 9:00am). Made beds, emptied the dishwasher and finished the laundry.
And guess what?
The house will stay that way for seven hours.
PTL for education!