Tucker lost another tooth!

Tucker lost another tooth tonight. This was the first tooth he has lost on the front, and I have to say he is even cuter as a snagletooth! The tooth has been loose to the point of falling out since Thursday. I have been very worried that it would fall out while he was sleeping and he would swallow it! He grinds his teeth at night and every morning I had to hold my breath before looking to make sure the tooth was still there. Finally, tonight he decided that he would try to pull it himself. It was basically hanging there, but he kept trying to pull it forward and it wouldn't budge. I told him to twist it, and POP! out it came! He was shocked and excited. I was very proud of the little guy!

Girls night out and Daddy daycare II

I just returned from a great dinner with my friend Margaret Ann. She and I had been wanting do celebrate her birthday all week, and we were finally able to do something together. We went to a local Mexican restaurant and had huge strawberry and mango margaritas and just sat and caught up with each other for three hours. It was a very nice relaxing visit. Rarely do we get to go to dinner or anywhere without our children in tow, so it was a special treat.

I have to say that having good girl friends in life is very important. Your husband will be with you until you die (hopefully) and he is always going to be your "best friend". However there are some things that men just can't relate to, and that is when your girls step in. I have been blessed with really good friends in my life. I am not a person who has tons and tons of close friends. I have a small knit group of women who I know I can count on, and who hopefully know that they can count on me, whenever I am needed. My friend Alex and I were having a girls night out once a month, before we had our second children, now we try to at least email each other and talk on the phone as much as possible. We are also going to start doing things during the day together so that we don't take away from family time at night.
I am thankful to all of you girls, you know who you are, my rocks of Gibraltar, who I lean on and laugh with through thick and thin.

Brad and Tucker are in the bed behind me. Brad is snoring like a freight train. He doesn't believe me when I tell him that he snores. Now Tucker will be my witness, when I wake him up and let him listen to his daddy bringing the house down. Tucker, Connor and Brad had a good night together. According to Tucker, they worked on some basketball "motions" and watched Star Wars the Clone Wars, ate chicken sticks (actually fish sticks, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him) and took a bath. I am proud of my husband for feeding and bathing my children tonight. He has really stepped up this week since I have been sick and I am grateful to him for that! Connor still walks around with a toothbrush in his mouth most of the day thanks to the last time Daddy babysat, but I am going to work on getting rid of that obsession next week.

We are going to watch the Alabama/ MSU game tomorrow night with Papa and Mimi. I spent about thirty minutes tonight trying to explain to my son that the Bulldogs are not going to win, and that he needs to come away from the dark side and start rolling with the Tide. His exact words to me were, "No way mommy, I love the bulldogs. We are going to eat those elephants tomorrow." My husband could have worked for Hitler in the area of brainwashing, he is so good that my child actually believes 1. the MSU might win tomorrow. 2. Alabama really isn't a good football team. 3. that he can chose his own team and doesn't chose the bulldogs just because daddy likes them. I know that part of me will still cheer for State, because I want Croom to beat Saban, but I will keep that to myself in front of my dad. Saban is just not a good person, I think he is a pompous jerk and am dissapointed that he is the coach of my alma mater.
What is this world coming too? 'Rock' Obama is president, my child thinks that Mississippi State is really the number one team in the nation, and my toddler continues to throw everything he can get his hands on into our fireplace (won't be using that this winter.) Just a note to friends: If we come to visit your house, keep all things that even look round out of Connor's line of vision. We will not be held liable for balls or other circular objects being thrown down toilets, fireplaces, ovens, air vents, and shoved into open refrigerator doors. All efforts are being made to control our toddler, but progress is slow, so be patient, and move quickly if he throws something in your direction.

The Lunchbox and Pumpkin Saga

I am tired today from all of the activity we had this week. I did not really leave the house except for a grocery store trip, but keeping two little ones yesterday wore me out.
Tucker is hilarious. He came home today, in his usual way, through Jake's backyard. I can hear the two of them talking as soon as they get off of the bus and into the woods. Their conversations crack me up. Evidently the little girl from behind Jake's house was trying to follow them home today. I know this because the first thing I heard was Tucker saying, "Go home now! You're not supposed to follow us!" So much for being a Casanova.
He and Jake emerged from the woods looking around Jake's yard forming their plan to get around Chester, the manic German Shepherd that is tied to his leash on a wire run. Tucker said, "Plan B is to get around Chester." Jake said, " Plan B? We have to get through plan A first, and THAT is to get around Chester." I watched them from the deck as usual, listening to their conversation about how much homework each of them had to do and the time it would take before they could play outside. They told each other good bye, and Tucker walked across the little wooden bridge that lays across the creek that runs in between our houses. He came running up the steps to our deck yelling, "Mommy!" and then his happy face went sad. I asked him why he was sad and he said, " I lost my lunch box today, someone took it from my peg in the coat room and I will never be able to take my lunch again!!" He looked up at me with his big blue eyes, and the sadness in them was too much to take. I started laughing and he immediately got offended. I told him that it would be okay, that his name was written all over it and who ever took it would see that and bring it back to school tomorrow. To that he replied," But they won't know who I am." The mind of a 6 year old runs dark. He actually thinks that someone in his class of 19 kids would not know who he was. When in fact, almost every kid in his school seems to know his name, and he doesn't remember any one's name. I am confident that the lunchbox will return tomorrow. I have an extra one to send with him in the meantime.
For some reason, he then turned his attention to the pumpkin that is still on the deck from when he brought it home from school last Thursday. He looked at me with the most serious face and said the following, " We need to plant this pumpkin! I have seeds in here that will grow, and we need to plant it now. Look at that garden back there mommy. You and Daddy have not taken advantage of it in a long time. We could grow our own food you know? And that fence around it, that is redikelious (his pronunciation) daddy really needs to fix it, it is worn out! What is happening around here?" As he was giving me this tirade, his hands were on his hips and he was pointing and gesturing just like I do when I am giving him a lecture. I started laughing and this time he didn't seem to mind. He told me, "I am going to plant this pumpkin today. Look at that sunlight, we need to take advantage of it now. Redikelious mommy, just redikelious." I told him to go ahead and I would watch him. He picked up the pumpkin and walked off the deck toward the back of the yard. He got half way there before he turned around and came back. Sitting the pumpkin on the railing he looked at me, all 6 years of him and said, "Well, I think this is something that I need daddy to help me with. So, I will just leave the pumpkin here until he gets home. Let's go inside, this sun is making me hot."

Life with kids, is so much fun. I have no idea what I laughed about before they were born!

Hope on the horizon

Well, after my rant last night, I have decided to post a lighter note on the blog. If I offended anyone last night who voted for Obama, I apologize. My intention was not to offend, but to inform.

I kept our neighbor's 21 month old today. His mom is in training for a new job, and until now has not needed care for him during the day. He is a precious little guy, and he and Connor got along well for the most part. Connor did not want to share his toys with him, and pushed him once. Which was funny to watch because Connor is about half his size. Poor Kaelyn just looked at Connor like he had two noses and then looked at me as if to say, "What do I do now?" I gave Connor a stern no, and then gave Kaelyn a big hug. He has a sweet smile, and is just a happy baby. Our neighbors do not seem to provide a very good home life for their children, and for that reason, I have always felt the need to make thier kids at home in our house. The parents are good people, for the most part. I just don't think that they have the kids needs in mind when they are making parenting decisions. You saw Jake's costume for Halloween, on the Halloween post. Poor guy. The daughter, Jewel came to our house one day when it was snowing with no shoes on, wet hair, and pajamas. In fact, the child never has on shoes. I have asked her to wear them because she is cheer leading and I know from past experience that keeping your arch in tact is key to tumbling. Thankfully, she has started wearing shoes when she runs down our paved street and when she rides her bicycle. It is sad to see the kids not wearing coats on cold mornings, because I know they have them, their mom just never thinks about making them wear a coat. Somehow they don't eat at their house. The older child, Jewel has said that they don't eat dinner at home and there isn't much food in the house. So last summer, I fed them most nights out of a sense of duty. They like coming to our house, and I like knowing that they feel taken care of here.

Connor is a capital M mess. He is the polar opposite of his brother when it comes to temperament. Tucker has a temper, but it is usually directed at himself, when he makes a mistake or gets into trouble. Connor gets mad if anything doesn't go his way. He throws everything in sight sometimes just to do it. Everything means, sippy cups, food, toys, cars, accessories, if he can reach it, he will throw it. When you tell him no, he just keeps on doing it. When Tucker was his age, if I got stern with him, he would cry as if I had broken his heart. Connor just looks at me like, "so what?". Connor is going to be a rebel just like me, and I am sad that he inherited that personality trait. I got lucky with Tucker. God let me off easy with him, in that I didn't have to suffer the mischievousness and mutiny that I gave my parents as a child and teenager. My attitude towards most things is, "If you are mad at me, get over it, because I will." Except when it comes to people I truly care about, like my parents and friends. He is also like me in that he thinks that his charm can get him out of sticky situations. I was a con artist at the age of 6, and was very proud of it. I cheated on tests like it was nothing, and never got caught. I could lie to you with a straight face and never feel guilty for it. I was the one who went into the Phillips 66 station when we were 16 to buy our beer. None of my other friends would do it, but I would. If someone older, bigger, and tougher than me smarted off to me or one of my friends, it was me who confronted them. I had a Napoleon complex, but the female version. Now I have become a mom in the true sense and have shed my outer layer of hostility. It's still there, and can come out now and again, but for the most part that side of me is kept quiet.

All that to say is that I am afraid my little sugar bear is going to give me ulcers as he grows up. What comes around goes around, and it is about to catch me I am afraid. Thankfully Tucker is like his daddy, I couldn't handle two of myself. My poor husband can't even handle me as it is. I feel sorry for him one day, and want to berate him the next. Such is life and marriage. I remember Jackie Gleason saying, "I'm gonna send you to the moon!" Honeymoons don't last that long but love can outlast anything as long as you are willing to let it prosper.

Well, I am sufficiently sleepy tonight, without the need of red wine. So I will join my snoring sweetheart in our comfy bed and thank the Lord for the roof over my head, my children who are in their beds, and for saving me, from myself. Thank you Jesus! Good night!

It's the end of the world as we know it

Well, the election is not yet over, but the results seem to be clear. I believe that the anti-Christ will soon be presiding over what was once the most influential country in the world. I know, calling "rock obama" as Tucker calls him, the anti - Christ is a little much, but you never know.

People, what you have seen here is a major failure to communicate. Our society has completely succumbed to the greatest ploy ever known to man, and that would be the media. There is a term for what the media has done to us, it is called "Wag the Dog". There has even been an exceptional movie made on this tactic, called "Wag the Dog". You should watch it, and feel ashamed at what we have let take place today. Today is a day that will live in infamy, and my friends, we have not asked what we could do for our country, but instead have let our country turn us into a bunch of fools.

The old saying, "history repeats itself" is true, we have witnessed it over and over again. The problem is that most people find history boring, because it is taught that way. Who wants to memorize a bunch of dates and names of dead people that you can't pronounce much less remember their significance. However there is a reason the every lawyer in this country is asked to either major in Literature or History before entering law school. There is also a reason that all law school classes consist of memorization of previous cases that made history by the rulings that were handed down, and turned into acts or laws that we are now governed by. Most of our forefathers left Europe to escape the government, which was composed of wealthy, prideful, arrogant, sinful, aristocrats who brought nothing but poverty and abuse down on their subordinates. Our ancestors left these countries to start a new one, where freedom would reign and democracy would be enforced. Now, hundreds of years later, we have let ourselves fall back into the trap that they fought so hard to get out of. Do you remember a little piece of history called the French Revolution? A king and his queen were beheaded at the request of their countrymen because the immigrants who had escaped England to come to America were forming a revolution. The American revolution was fought to ensure that England's monarchy could not take over the new country that the immigrants had founded. The New Americans, as we were called, were wearing a tri colored ribbon of red, white and blue, which stood for revolution. Word spread to France, and french adopted the tri color ribbon that was being worn in the states as a sign to other citizens that they were part of the revolutionary cause. At this time the people of France were starving because their king was too busy enjoying himself to worry about making sure that the crops were harvested properly and the people were taken care of. The wheat that they were forced to make bread of was poisonous, and thousands of men, women and children died before someone figured out that it was the food on their tables that were killing them. When Marie Antoinette told them to eat cake, she literally meant for them to eat cake, because it was made from flower that was safe from the contaminated wheat in the fields. She lost her head, and this famous quote is all people remember her for.

The Europeans figured out that they were pawns on a chessboard, for the monarchy to push around at a whim. These people decided they had taken enough abuse and decided to fight back, and won. Now we too have become pawns, and chess mate has been called.

When God created us, he created us to be like sheep, in that he wanted us to follow His commands. He gave us a shepherd, his name is Jesus. We have not let Jesus be our shepherd, instead we are following a wolf in sheep's clothing and he is leading us to a very high cliff that we will fall off of one by one, unless we wake up from our stupidity and go back the way we were called by the One that made us.

Politicians as a whole, are not good people. Abraham Lincoln was an accidental politician. The man had no idea the kind of influence he had on our nation. All he was really good at was making speeches. He was nominated for the presidency by greedy men who wanted to control our nation through him, because they new he was borderline insane with melancholy and would be easily manipulated. Thankfully, he held true to his belief that all people were created equal and in his eyes, that is why he declared civil war. His intentions were good, he wanted freedom for a race that was no different from him in his eyes and felt like the abuse the slaves suffered was an abomination. Lincoln was blind to the politicians running the show behind his back because he was to guilt ridden over the dying solder's and spent his time comforting widows and mother's who had lost their men in battle. The politicians working behind Lincoln's back were negotiated deals with industries in the north, slowly taking away the south's resources right under Lincoln's nose, and he never saw it coming. I believe that Honest Abe was the last president in history who actually lived for the good of the people he served. The rest that have followed, even Reagan and Bush, have fallen prey to the 3 political sins, that happen to be part of the 7 deadly sins created by the Catholic church a thousand or more years ago. These three sins would be: Greed, Gluttony, and Pride.
What happened to give me liberty or give me death? Liberty and liberal are both from the same latin root word "liber" which means "free". There will be no such thing as freedom as we have known it in the United States now that this election is over. Get ready for the CHANGE of tides and I think that it will be a rough ride. Just to let you all know that I am now, an official anarchist. 'Big Brother' if you are reading this, come get me, I'll be ready, because I am sure that gun laws will not apply anymore in this country. And why should they, killing people without just cause is a moral issue, that our new president is not against, because as far as I can tell, he stands for no morals that I know of, only "obamorals" that he has made up.

I am ending this post with our Lord's Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever.

Amen

May God help us all.

Painting Indian Shirts and Bullys

I was blessed with the opportunity to volunteer in Tucker's class today and help them paint their Indian T-shirts for the Thanksgiving Feast they are having this month. I say blessed, because thanks to God, I am able to be at home with the kids now and can volunteer my time as a room mom for his class.

It was so nice to see all of those little faces, well I guess you can't call 5 and 6 year old little, but they were cute and sweet anyway. Tucker was especially proud to have me there. He kept telling all of his friends that his mommy is an artist. I still do not think that I have earned the right to call myself an artist, because I am simply not that good yet. However, if my little man thinks I am an artist, then I will proudly wear the title when he is around.

There were four of us who volunteered to paint the t-shirts. One of the other room moms, Monique, was there along with two mom's who I had not met until today. One of them is the mother of the class bully, and I was very interested in meeting her and speaking with the bully himself. Before you assume that my mouth got away from my temper, remember what happens when we assume. I was very cordial to the bully's mom, and she was very nice. I am sure that she is unaware that her kid terrorizes the class, because in my experience with daycare and kids in general, the main reason a kid acts like a bully is because their parents are not aware or choose to ignore most their child's actions. When I met the bully, I could see that he was a sweet child, but has obvious issues with controlling his actions. For instance, while we were sitting there painting shirts, we had to perform a tornado drill with the kids that lasted about 5 minutes. On the way back into the class, Minez, the bully evidently hit Joe, another little boy. Joe was crying and the teacher asked what happened. Another child, (thankfully not Tucker) piped up and told the teacher that Minez had hit Joe. Minez was reprimanded, and while the teacher was talking to him, Minez's mom kept on painting like it was not happening. The bully's face was blank as the teacher spoke to him, as if he didn't understand that hitting another kid was grounds for punishment. Which leads me to my next theory on bullys, and if this offends anyone reading my post, I apologize.
I believe that kids bully other kids to get attention, if they are intelligent enough to know that getting in trouble will give them attention. There are other kids who are simply not that intelligent. They do not understand how their actions affect others, and that there are consequences for those actions because their brain just doesn't function on the same level as other's when it comes to conscience and self control. If you look back at your child hood and think about a bully in your school, I would bet you $5.00 (because that is about the amount in my personal account right now) that the bully had at least two of the four characteristics I have listed:

1. Low Income family, usually a single parent house hold with multiple siblings.
2. Involved in a special education program at school for some type of learning disability.
3. Has more than three siblings at home and is from an upper class background.
4. Is a child of a divorced family.

I am pointing out these characteristics to say that a child does not come out of the womb malicious. There are contributing factors that surround the child on a daily basis that cause him/her to bully other children. It is not this little boy's fault that he is a bully, but being faultless does not make his actions inconsequential.

There are bullys that don't fit into this generalization, like the ones who have been given attention and are super intelligent who harbor some sort of sadistic quality that his hidden from view for most of their lives. These are the ones who turn out to be serial killers.
On the other side of the fence you have the bullied kids who do not stand up for themselves out of fear of further retaliation from the bully, or because their parents have told them to ignore the bully and they will leave them alone. These are the kids that end up keeping the hurt feelings brought on by years of torment, welled up inside of them until they suddenly explode, form a posse of other bullied friends and then devise a plan to shoot up a school or college.

I tell Tucker to stick up for himself with Minez and anyone else who picks on him for no reason. From what I can tell he has not had anymore problems with Minez or any other kids since we had that discussion. Brad and I argue on the Christian basis for self defense. I am of the mindset that Jesus did not mean for us to be doormats or punching bags. Brad is of the mindset that Jesus turned the other cheek. I know that Jesus turned the other cheek, but he was also God in human form. If Jesus had retaliated against someone who offended him, not only would his actions have defeated his purpose in showing the rest of us how to live in order to please our Father, as well as die for our salvation. He was perfect, we are imperfect, and therefore have to kick butt every now and again to keep the playing field of life even. My kids are going to stand up for themselves and I don't think that God looks down on me for it. As long as Tucker and Connor live by the Golden rule in treating others as they would want to be treated, violators of that rule are opening themselves up to a nice can of whoop @ss as far as their momma is concerned.

Halloween 2008

I had forgotten to post about our wonderful Halloween night! Tucker had a blast. He was Jango Fett, and Connor was the cutest Superman I have ever seen. I had intended on taking Connor with us in the stroller, however our neighbor/Tucker's friend Gunter, showed up in a super scary costume and my hopes of Connor having a fun night in the dark were diminished. See photo of scary costume above, and Connor's face. Tucker even ducked away from him. The kids is 8 by the way.... The sadder part was Tucker's best buddy in his older sister's tiger costume, complete with head band. What was his mom thinking???? The answer, she wasn't. Bless his heart. He is our neighbor, Jake, the one I wrote about in the first post on my blog. Jake and his sister are sweet kids, and he and Tucker are really good playmates. They have played together ever since we moved into our house when Tucker was two years old and Jake was three.

Anyway, Jake's parents let him trick or treat with Tucker and I while Brad stayed in the house with Connor giving out the treats. As I posted previously, our neighborhood puts on a good halloween show. It took us about two hours to get around to all of the houses. I had explained to Tucker and Jake when we set out for the evening that the universal symbol for "We have candy" was a lit porch light. My explanation proved me wrong a couple of times, but they loaded up on the sweets regardless of the people who chose not to give the neighborhood a sugar high.

There are two houses on the culdesac behing our house that go all out for halloween. Every year, they seem to get a little bit more insane with the decorations. The first year, they had the older son hidden in the bushes throwing pop rocks that would send the kids screaming back into the street. Tucker did not want to go near the house the next year due to the pop rocks and the mummy that suddenly grabbed his shoulder as he walked up the sidewalk to get his candy. This year, he and Jake could not wait to get to the haunted houses. It was an amazing set up. Both houses had music from Halloween and other horror movies playing, dry ice with blue lights behind them and a graveyard set up complete with a half buried skeleton. It was very cool, to me anyway. Tucker, once again, chose not to go near it. His imagination is a lot like mine was when I was little, in that he can't seem to separate fact from fiction, or reality from make believe. He saw the skeleton coming out of the ground as a real one, and was immediatly thinking about how it got there, and who it might have been. All scary things if you really think about it. His mind travels to deep places every now and then, and makes me want to keep him from thinking all together. Tucker is a lot like me, in some ways, his imagination, sensitive nature, and empathy. He is more like his father though in his quest for perfectionism, OCD behaviors, and the train of thought that everything in this world is either one way or another, and nothing in between could possibly exist. The last statement contrasts greatly with his imagination, but I believe that part of his little mind is separate from his nature, and will hopefully keep him from being a boring person later in life.

Like all neighborhoods, we had some big kids trick or treating, running through the streets in their scary costumes, wreaking havoc on front porches every where and making a lot of noise for attention as they go. Jake informed me that one of these "big kids" called him Chicken Little because of his glasses. This infuriated me, because having being picked on at one time in elementary school, I loath a bully. I told Jake that the next time this kid called him Chicken Little, to call him Pizza face. Jake thought that was hilarious but did not understand the meaning of the phrase, and I let him believe that it was just a funny thing to say. I knew very well that this comment would hit home to a 14 year old boy who was going through puberty, and desparately applying his Sea Breeze and zit cream on a nightly basis to cover up his pepporoni sized pimples. Sure enough, as we came to one of our last houses on our block, the big kids came around and one of them said, "Hey its Chicken Little." Jake turned around and said, "Shut up Pizza head! " The kid stopped in his tracks and looked at his buddy's and said, "Did you hear what he called me? " They all said yeah, and started calling him pizza head right back. Jake looked over at me in his tiger headband and grinned through painted on whiskers with a look of triumph. If anything, the little guy in his sister's hand me down costume had shown an older kid that he didn't appreciate having a nick name made for him, and that he was capable of coming up with a nick name too, even if it was a little altered from the original name itself.

Jake came back to our house to wait on his sister, parents and baby brother to finish trick or treating and had a hot dog with Tucker. They stuffed themselves with Oscar Meyer's and Hershey's, both of them exhausted and happy. It was one of my favorite Halloween's ever.

The trials and tribulations of Parenting

Brad and Tucker are in Mississippi for the State game, and I have had some time on my hands as you can see from my three posts today. Connor and I have spent the afternoon and the night together and it has been precious. He is so funny and unbelievably athletic. It is amazing to see his ability at such a young age. I know you are probably thinking, "Every mom thinks that their kid is the best at sports." You are right. But with Connor, I am not the only one who thinks that he has a lot of athleticism.

I am a guy's girl. I have always been more comfortable around guys than girls. I was a tomboy growing up, I like hard rock and violent movies, I drive fast (or I did before kids), and used to could drink any guy under a table (in the old days). As I have grown older and look at my closest friends, I realize that I surround myself with strong women. My girlfriends are all guys girls too. My friend Alex, who is a true southern bell, can have a conversation with any guy about sports and life in general without missing a beat. When I get together with my best friends from college, you would be astonished at the way we communicate, cursing, and sarcastic remarks fly around us like moths to a light bulb. We have always called each other by our last names. To this day, they still call me Tucker, which is confusing now that my son is named Tucker. So when God blessed me with my first son, Tucker, I was so thankful because God knew I couldn't handle a girl.

When we were waiting to find out what sex Connor was going to be, I was actually worried about having another boy because of competition between the two. Brad is a very good athlete. The football field at his high school still has his name on a sign, bearing a record that no one has beaten in eleven years. He played college basketball, and had opportunities to play college football. When I was pregnant with Tucker, Brad taught me how to throw a spiral football in our front yard. I can throw a good one now, and am proud of myself. From the day that Tucker was born, all he could talk about was how he wanted him to play football and basketball. Thankfully, Tucker plays both sports, including soccer and he is good at all three. Brad has always said that Tucker did not have a lot of athletic ability, but that with practice he would be good. I always disagreed with him because I thought there was no way to tell if a three year old was athletic or not. I accused him of being too hard toward Tucker's abilities. He never let Tucker know that he felt that way of course.
Tucker inherited Brad's speed, and my endurance. He can run for miles at a pretty fast pace, and not get tired. When Tucker was 4, he went on a two mile run with me and never asked to rest. The kid is an amazing runner, if he could run all day long, he would be happy. This year, Brad finally admitted that Tucker does have athletic ability, it has just taken a little bit more time to show itself. In flag football Tucker can catch up to a kid that might be 30 yards in front of him in seconds to grab the kid's flag. When he catches the football, he can find holes in the defense and juke the players around him to make touchdowns that other kids couldn't make. In soccer he is the fastest kid on the field. A boy from the opposing team could be dribbling the ball down the field and Tucker would be in the back field behind the other players. All of the sudden, it was like he lit a booster under his bottom, and took off. He will almost always catch the other player and get the ball away or keep him from scoring a goal. The hard part is that Tucker has always been more interested in role playing and just playing in general than practicing sports, or throwing a ball around. His teachers always talk about his imagination and his vocabulary. He is also proving to be very good at math and patterns, which is wonderful news. However, the lack of interest in practicing sports has been a frustration for Brad.

Connor picked up a ball and threw it when he was 4 months old and hasn't put it down since. Tonight, I spent at least an hour, throwing his little football back and forth with him. We throw the ball together on a daily basis for hours on end. Connor will pick up a round ball, and stand like he is on a pitcher's mound at a baseball game. Then he will turn to the side, just like a pitcher does, wind the ball backward and throw it overhanded, hard. He broke my little toe with a sippy cup because he threw it on my foot. No joke. We have no idea where he saw a pitcher wind a ball, but he must have been watching a baseball game to get the idea. When he pitches the ball, it goes right to you, with a spin. This is no ordinary 17 month old throwing a ball haphazardly around the room.

When Connor throws the football, he actually takes a stance, like you see Peyton or Brett do before they throw the ball. Then, he takes the ball and turns it in his hands, making sure to line up the white marks on the ball. leans back and throws a spiral across the room. It is amazing. Brad taped the Connor throwing the baseball one night, and we have got to get the football toss on camera too. Tonight, as I watched him throw the football to me with perfect accuracy I was amazed and scared at the same time. Connor is going to be a phenomenal quarterback or pitcher one day, and I don't think I am being biased. My fear is that if Tucker is not as good as his younger brother it will devastate him. This is the competition factor that I worried about when you have two boys. I look at the Manning family and wonder what the older brother must feel like. He was good, but not as good as his younger brothers. Now they are both gazillionaires and he sits in the box with his parents watching them, he is so obscure that I don't even know his name. All that to say, I will take the competition of two brothers over an emotional 13 year old wreck of a girl anyday.

I just hope that Tucker will have enough confidence in his abilities not to compare himself to Connor. I know that Tucker is smart, and hopefully his brain will take him further than Connor's athletics. I feel torn between the two of them already, and neither of them are aware of the rivalry to come. On one hand I want to be so proud of Connor, because he has a gift. On the other hand, I want to protect Tucker from seeing how good Connor actually is. I try not to recognize the fact that Connor is so good. I know this is premature, but I can see it happening in the future and am trying my hardest to prepare myself for the battles to come. Being a parent is the hardest, most challenging thing in the world, however it is the best blessing you can ever receive from God. Hopefully, with God's help, I will cross this bridge easily when the time comes. For now, I am thankful that I have two beautiful, healthy, sweet, boys. Sorry for the long post, that you probably could care less about. It made me feel better to write it and clear my head. Now, I am off to have a few sips of my red wine and read more about 14th century England.

New Pink Album

I got the new P!nk album when it came out on Tuesday. I am a huge fan of hers, even though I didn't like her first album. This new album is different than her previous one, in that most of the songs are lower tempo. Just about all of the songs deal with her divorce, which has apparently hit her hard. If you have ever had a broken heart, you will completely identify with these songs. I love it when artist can use thier talent to express their feelings, even if it means being public about it. If you like P!nk, you should get this album because even if it is a little less upbeat, it still rocks. If you have never listened to P!nk before, you might like this album more than the previous ones because it is more subdued. I like her because she is a tough, independant woman, who doesn't take anything from anyone. However, this new album shows that there is a softer side of her just like all of the rest of us females.
I can't wait to work out to this album tomorrow!

The Discovery of Red Wine

If you ask a friend of mine if they thought I was a drinker, they would probably tell you no. I will have a nice cold, imported beer on special occasions with friends, and that is about it. When I was working full time, I kept New Castle Brown Ale in my refridgerator and would drink one every now and then to ease my nerves as I made dinner. If anything, I am a lover of good imported brew, and drink it for the taste, not the affect. This week, I discovered red wine.

Red wine is the classy drink that all of our friend's wives drink at parties, while I am one of the only ones drinking my Bass Ale or New Castle. I had tried red wine in college, and all I got from the glasses that I drank was a really bad headache and purple teeth. I did not enjoy the wine, because it was warm and reminded me of drinking blood. (too many Lestat books I am sure) When I was a youngster, my aunt Joann, who lived in Miami, would slip me red wine, and other drinks under the table at dinner. I loved red wine then, along with Khalua, and some other dark brown liquior that only grown ups should have been drinking.

Why my Aunt Joann slipped me wine under the table is not a mystery, she gave it too me because I asked for it. My aunt spoiled me rotten. She had no children, was the CEO of an advertising company that had major clients all over Florida, and therefore had money to burn and thankfully me to burn it with. Anything I asked for at Aunt Joann's house, I got. So, if the adults were drinking red wine at a swanky restaurant in Miami, I was given some too, without my parents knowledge.
This part of my post needs a little bit more explanation. I grew up an only child, and my parents did not cater to my wishes, I was more of a tagalong of theirs. Part of their luggage, that just happened to talk a lot and look cute in dresses. My dad worked for an airline for 25 years and we could fly anywhere for free. I had an aunt and uncle in Miami, and an aunt and uncle in Detriot. My summers, and school vacations were spent flying between these two cities. I can tell you to this day that it takes approximately 30 min. to fly from Alabama to Memphis, and an 1 hour to fly from Memphis to Miami. It takes 30 minutes longer to fly from Memphis to Detriot. Traveling with my parents was always an adventure. I was able to see Niagra Falls, as well as a nude beach we accidently stumbled upon in Canada. I walked in snow that came up to my waist in Michigan and had lunch on the beach of Lake Ontario. In Miami we dined in the finest restaurants and once I rode the elevator with some famous mobsters. I kept looking at these men in their linen suits, while we were eating dinner, and happened to get on the elevator with them when we were leaving. My dad told me later that the men were rumored to be part of a well known crime family who had connections in Miami and New York.
I knew Hollywood beach in Ft. Lauderdale like the back of my hand and was a frequent visitor to a beach side bar with my parents and aunt and uncle. I can tell you how to get into Star Island without a card, and give you a tour of Viscauya, one of the most beautiful homes on Biscaine Bay. I have never been to our country's capital, or seen the grand canyon, but take me to Miami or Detriot and I will find a good place for dinner and can drive without a GPS.
So back to red wine. I used to like the red wine that aunt Joann gave me when I was little, because it was cold. Not frosty cold, but cool. I couldn't understand why all of the wine I was offered as an adult was so warm. One day, as I sat getting a manicure a guy came and sat at the table next to me. His family owned a vineyard in the south, and we started talking about wine. I mentioned the fact that I liked red wine at one time, but I preferred it to be cold. He understood immediately and said that red wine is supposed to be served at a lower temperature, and is best when it is cool. He said that most people did not know this about red wine.
I found a bottle of red wine a friend of ours had given us in our cabinet the other night. I have been reading a lot about 14th century England and they drank wine and ale all of the time back then, so when I saw the wine I thought, "I will try this stuff again and see what I think." After putting it in the fridge to chill, I had a small glass. It was wonderful! Not only did it taste just like it did when I was 8 years old, but it helped me sleep that night. So, I will partake of the red wine for it's health benefits from now on, in small doses, at night, but not every night.