Whenever I See Your Smiling Face

I have to smile myself… because I love you…

That is just one of many many songs that makes me think of one or both of my boys.. in this case - Liam. He has a beautiful smile and he is also goofy so not only does he usually make me smile - but also laugh.

Music has such a strong pull for me… to memories…feelings…moments hung in time. I have often though how great it would be if life came with a soundtrack. Can you imagine what songs would play at certain experiences of your life? It’s fun!

So I am really enjoying Carrie’s Friday MIX it up. She asks a question regarding your choice of a particular song and she puts together a “MIX TAPE” of all the songs her commenters have chosen! Genius, that girl! Because truly if there is a common ground for most people, it’s music. Ever met anyone who hates music? I mean yes we all have different genres we like/love but music itself is a common thread. Thus Carrie’s genius.

Check out her MIX request for this week… she wants to hear your selection for ONE SONG (just one people - don’t be like me the first week she did this and pick 4) that makes you think of a friend. One friend - one song… you can explain yourself or just leave it at your selection…

But know that she’s not going to counsel you if you tell her Barry Manilow “Weekend in New England” because you really are in love with your friend and you spend drunken Thursday nites dressed all in black with all the lights off laying on the floor thinking about him. Oooopsy…. just had a flashback… ok we’re walking we’re walking… move along… nothing to see here people

Go ahead and head over there and drop your song choice in the comment slot.

I haven’t dropped off MY selection yet (I KNOW!) because I can’t pick one friend so I need to do a arandom selection then enter the first song that comes to mind. 

As for Carrie - well one of the songs that ALWAYS ALWAYS makes me think of her is below.

3 and 3/4 Year Logic

In the car:

“Mama. You have to leave birds and bunnies alone, right? Cause squirrels are WILD ANIMALS. Right? And they can BITE YOU.”

So much cooler online

There is a Brad Paisley song of this ilk (worth a watch). It is sort of hilarious. And it echoes something I often tell online friends that I’m about to meet for the first time. “I’m much funnier online.” Then typically, if they become friends, they tell me this every chance they get cause my friends… they are bitches.

KIDDING! Serious. I love my bitches!

No… I mean yes I love them but no they aren’t TRULY bitches. But anyway… I digress but you know that.

I read a lot of blogs and I wonder how many bloggers are more reclusive, more quiet in person. I am somewhat shy (YES BELIEVE IT GOOD FRIENDS AND FAMILY - I GET SHY!) and quiet. I wait a bit and feel out the room, so to speak. Sometimes I never get comfortable enough to let the good times roll. What really helps me hang loose is when I have someone who knows me really well with me. Then I can bounce jokes and fun with them until I’m comfortable enough to - say - jump on top of someone and thrash them.

KELLI.

When I first met a group of friends from an online moms group, I had already known these women for almost TWO YEARS. Still I felt shy and unsure. Insecure mostly. What if they think I’m fat? Freaky? BOOORRRRRING? But a couple of the girls and I had REALLY hit it off. Like in a LIFELONG FRIENDS kind of way (and I’d link to a couple others but THEY don’t have blogs - bitches!)

So we were all hanging out in this hotel room - waiting for the last gal to arrive. We were feeling good. Some of us felt a little MORE than good thanks to Katy’s jug of moonshine or whatever she brought. And there was quiet Kelli - not THAT quiet. But definitely a Lady from Texas sort of way in which I’d describe her as beautiful, perfect make up, and a wrinkle would not DARE to appear on her clothes. So it just had to be done.

I suddenly stood up, took two steps, and jumped on top of her.

People, it’s just my way of saying hello. Is there a problem with that?

Kelli was “laughingly horrified…” but I know she loved it. How do I know? She’s one of my bitches now! Of course I know! She is not a delicate rose of Texas - though she is definitely pretty enough to be. She is raunchy, dirrrrrty, funny, lovely, caring, honest and so much more.

And all my bitches are. They have layers and layers and more layers. And I know some of them have never even revealed their thinnest layer because we’ve only known each other what… 5.5 years now.

Do you have online friends that you’ve met and your relationship has grown into a deeper friendship? Or did it fizzle cause, like me, they were “wayyyyyy funnier online” ?

Randomness Randomly Randomized

So here you go… a random list of current happenings and hijinx….

  • Thank you SO MUCH for your shared frustration and ideas/tips for the Scare Factor we have going on in the house. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. Though not so sure Madge reassured me with mentioning her 6 year old. Eeek now I’m scared ;-) No… seriously, thank you. I guess they are scared of something til they get older then we are more scared of things for them (driving, dating, alcohol, drugs, etc).
  • Liam did FINE at preschool camp after I peeled him off my body and left him there. He was happy at pick up. But he still brings up constantly that “There are NO MOVIES today at camp, right Mama?” and I could FEEL his anxiety as we approached the door today. He didn’t relax until we walked in and he saw that there was no movie set up.
  • I have boxed up and will ship out TODAY Bill’s box of random goodnesss from my Pay It Forward contest. Random but pretty sweet assortment. Including something I know Bill LURRRRVS.
  • The baby attempted the stairs yesterday. The hardwood stairs. I was sitting next to him but it was still frightening and exciting at the same time. For both of us.
  • Considering going to BlogHer next year. Anyone else? I will be starting a blog job soon and between that and the general interest in learning more, I am intrigued.
  • I am spending WAY too much time on Facebook - FB to the FREAKS INSIDERS. I even have the app on my Blackberry now. WHAT is my problem? I’m addicted to connectivity!
  • I got Liam a $1 mini-globe at Target Sunday and it is now one of his favorite toys. We talk constantly about countries and oceans. He wanted to bring it to bed last night but Daddy said no. I argued this morning that it was at least educational… and he echoed, “YEAH Daddy, it’s edge-u-ma-cational! And it’s a GLOBE! The EARTH!”
  • Did I happen to mention that I think I am going to VEGAS in the fall? My hubs (who’s techblog had over 2000 hits for his iPhone post which made it a WordPress post of the day! GO DAN!) has a conference for a week and I may go out on Thursday-Sunday. Man I love Vegas! and sleeping! Though I suppose it’s kind of a haul to go just to sleep. But I can EAT too!
  • Liam wants a Monster Truck birthday. And he’s obsessed with watching monster truck races on YouTube (which we also have on the AppleTV in the living room). Shea? He just ROCKS OUT to the heavy metal soundtracks to the clips. Like - METALLICA and The Zombies. LOVES IT!
  • I received my Pops! Icy Treats cookbook yesterday. I bought some molds the day before at Target so I just need to settle in now and make something FABULOUS. Or something Liam will eat. ;-) Or BOTH.

Lastly I’ll leave you with a couple of new pics. Haven’t updated that in a while.

Liam has an impromptu nap. Can you say CRASH? HARD?

Peace out!

That’s SCARY

Liam had a hard time going to summer “camp” today. Summer camp is preschool without the learnin.’ Cept with almost four year olds - isn’t EVERYTHING about the learnin’?

Liam has this newish thing where he is getting increasingly AFRAID of things. The worst so far is “bad guys” in movies. And by movies I mean of the Disney/Pixar variety, not so much of this variety (careful viewing…strong LANGUAGE and NASTY VIOLENCE - though I personally LIKE the frequent use of the word “asshole” which I believe has become somwhat jejune). (Did you like how I just dropped the word “jejune” [did you have to look it up?] in the SAME sentence as the word “asshole” - not going to get that on just ANY blog, you know.)

Anyways - I DIGRESS. A lot. Also had a lot of complicated punctuation.

Liam is completely FREAKED OUT now by movies he used to LOVE - like Nemo, the Dalmations, Peeetah Pahhn. Well His preschool-summer camp this year has 4 theme weeks. Disney themes. And on Fridays they show the movie they had as their theme. Last week, his first week, was The Little Mermaid. I signed him up for Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings so that he could see the movie they had touched on all week. So Monday and Wednesday they learned about the ocean and sea life and did arts and crafts and games around such. Then Friday was movie day.

Well Friday Liam was dragging his heels a little bit, knowing it was movie day. But he wasn’t unwilling to go. So I dropped him off and then took Shea to our pediatrician’s walk in hours to check out a bug bite on his leg. It was just a bit infected and we were told to use the hydrocortison and watch for changes. It was great being at the walk in times on a Friday during the summer. We waited like 10 minutes and were seen almost immediately after being placed in a room. Then we left - within about 30 mins of arriving - UNHEARD OF!

On my way back home, my cell phone rings. It’s one of Liam’s teachers who must have apologized about 100x and was telling me that Liam was inconsolable and crying. He wanted to go home. They tried EVERY trick in the book and nothing snapped him out of it. Ok, I told them, I’m on my way.

Turns out that once they put out the sleeping bags and turned down the lights, Liam started crying and saying “I DON’T WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE! I WANT TO GO HOME!!” When I picked him up he was in the bathroom with the light on and door shut crying. One of his teachers carried him over to me.

Now this is a child who did fine on Movie Day at school about 4 months ago. Same set up, different movie. Today when I was bringing him to camp - no movie scheduled - he was fine. Til we got there. He refused to get out of his carseat and kept rebuckling himself in (clever little man, no?). He said “I want to go HOME!” about 10x. I reassured him over and over that there was no movie, but when Liam is decided - HE IS STUBBORN AS A MULE. Like, puts cement around his feet and doesn’t budge.

I KNEW if he got in the school and his teacher told him “no movie” he would be fine. So I cajoled, I reassured, then I threatened. Nothing worked. So I just grabbed him and picked him up and he is crying “I DON’T WANT TO GO!” I carried him into school where his teachers and the assistants were welcoming everyone. He had a vicegrip on my neck and head on my shoulder but he had stopped crying. His beloved teacher came over and rubbed his back and reassured him that there wasn’t going to be any movie. And that they were going to have fun today. Did he want to go hang up his back pack? He nodded his head and released my neck. I put him down and he went to hang up his backpack.

Phew….

So he’s there now and I haven’t received a call so he will be fine, I know. I’m assuming this change in him is just due to something clicking in his brain about bad guys and being scared by the foreboding music and darkness that is associated with it.

His last “I’m scared” meltdown was on the fourth of July at the local parade. The same parade he watched last year and was fine. This year the militia re-enactment troops scared the everloving SHIT right out of him. It was mostly due to them shooting the damn guns every 500 feet or so. Of course this also happened to occur right IN FRONT of where we were sitting. Every time for like 4 times. He was a mess of hot tears and racing heartbeats. He wanted to go home and go home RIGHT NOW.

Ever since the fourth he has been more jumpy and concerned for loud noises. Asking if they are gunsm whenever he hears firecrackers and such. He has never been jumpy or afraid of thunder but I am wondering if he will now.

Did you as a child or does your child get scared of things to the point of meltdown? How do you calm them or how did your parents calm you? Because Dan and I struggle between being sympathetic and caring to being frustrated.