Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Wednesday Wow
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tooth troubles
We dubbed it "the tooth that would never fall out." Julie even wrote a story about her stubborn tooth. It began to wiggle around Christmas time, and it refused to exit her mouth until two nights ago.
Even then, the tooth was literally yanked from from Julie's mouth. Let's just say the night Julie's tooth was finally removed wasn't a finer parenting moment for Scott and me.
It all started with the genius idea to tape a video for America's Funniest Videos. "AFV" is our favorite family show. Every Sunday after dinner we snuggle on the couch and crack up at the nitwits on TV. Attention-cravers like their parents, Julie and Johnny have desperately tried to enact hilarious moments for us to capture and send to AFV, in hopes of winning the big prize--$10,000. Well, we were sure we had the best idea the other night.
It all came about as we were trying to think of ways to pull out Julie's tooth. It seemed to be hanging by a skin thread at that point, but it just wouldn't come out. Julie decided we should tie a string to her tooth, and tie the other end of the string to a remote control car. Then, as the car raced away, her tooth was sure to fall out. This all sounded like wonderful idea and a shoo-in for AFV.
Unfortunately it was much more traumatic for Julie than we counted on. After the first few runs of the remote control car, Julie became frantic and wanted the string and car off her tooth. By this point, the string was wound so tight around her tooth it was unable to come off. Hilarity and drama then ensued, as we chased Julie around the house trying to pull the string off her tooth, and hopefully the tooth out of her mouth. She whined. She howled. She screamed. She paced.
Of course we could have simply cut the string from the car, but Julie was absolutely convinced we were also going to cut out her tooth. This in and of itself was hilarious, so Scott taped Julie freaking out about the possibility of someone cutting out her tooth with scissors.
Eventually, she let Scott cut the string from the car, and somehow Scott yanked the string off her tooth with her tooth still remaining intact in her mouth.
Finally, an hour or so later, as Scott read Julie "Charlotte's Web" while gently rocking her tooth back and forth---it came out.
What a dramatic tooth debacle. At least you can look out for us on AFV.
Even then, the tooth was literally yanked from from Julie's mouth. Let's just say the night Julie's tooth was finally removed wasn't a finer parenting moment for Scott and me.
It all started with the genius idea to tape a video for America's Funniest Videos. "AFV" is our favorite family show. Every Sunday after dinner we snuggle on the couch and crack up at the nitwits on TV. Attention-cravers like their parents, Julie and Johnny have desperately tried to enact hilarious moments for us to capture and send to AFV, in hopes of winning the big prize--$10,000. Well, we were sure we had the best idea the other night.
It all came about as we were trying to think of ways to pull out Julie's tooth. It seemed to be hanging by a skin thread at that point, but it just wouldn't come out. Julie decided we should tie a string to her tooth, and tie the other end of the string to a remote control car. Then, as the car raced away, her tooth was sure to fall out. This all sounded like wonderful idea and a shoo-in for AFV.
Unfortunately it was much more traumatic for Julie than we counted on. After the first few runs of the remote control car, Julie became frantic and wanted the string and car off her tooth. By this point, the string was wound so tight around her tooth it was unable to come off. Hilarity and drama then ensued, as we chased Julie around the house trying to pull the string off her tooth, and hopefully the tooth out of her mouth. She whined. She howled. She screamed. She paced.
Of course we could have simply cut the string from the car, but Julie was absolutely convinced we were also going to cut out her tooth. This in and of itself was hilarious, so Scott taped Julie freaking out about the possibility of someone cutting out her tooth with scissors.
Eventually, she let Scott cut the string from the car, and somehow Scott yanked the string off her tooth with her tooth still remaining intact in her mouth.
Finally, an hour or so later, as Scott read Julie "Charlotte's Web" while gently rocking her tooth back and forth---it came out.
What a dramatic tooth debacle. At least you can look out for us on AFV.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Wednesday Wow
I'm staying true to my personal vow to Wednesday wow. Today I took Johnny and my father-in-law who is visiting from Nevada to Lego Land. Obviously it was not a fancy affair, but I did myself up right, curled my hair, slapped on some lip gloss and rocked the Wednesday Wow. I love this cream lace shirt I scored from Express. The pink-hued baubles around my neck I bought a couple years ago from Charlotte Russe. And, my personal favorite bling are my new earrings from Charming Charlie--my new favorite store. It's all about the costume jewelry to make you feel like a diva.
Monday, March 11, 2013
The best decision
The summer going into 5th grade, I spent most of the unbearably sticky, hot Baltimore days inside--reading books, writing and watching TV. It's not that I didn't want to play outside. It's just that I was painfully shy, and couldn't bear the awkward situation of trying to make new neighborhood pals. My two real friends had recently moved away, and I wasn't up for making new friends. Besides, I was completely comfortable spending my summer days as a recluse. I loved to read and write, and the air-conditioning felt darn good.
My parents felt sorry for me I guess, and felt I should try and "be a kid". So, they thrust me into a friendship with a girl who had just moved in with her father, stepmother and two stepbrothers across the street. Kelly was a year older in school, but about 10 years old in terms of experience.
Kelly easily befriended me, kind of relishing having a younger kid to boss around. Before long, I was thrown into her troubled life. She had come to live with her father, after years of physical and mental abuse from her mother. I won't retell her stories. That's for her to do.
It was painfully obvious (even to me at the time) that her actions and personality were a result of the abuse. As an immature soon-to-be fifth grader, I just kind of went along with whatever she wanted, even though a lot of it shocked me. Up until this point, I had been the epitome of a perfect daughter with excellent grades and a goodie two shoes personality. Around this time, I was kind of fed up with being such a good little girl for some reason. I even recall writing in my diary that I wanted to rebel. I guess meeting Kelly was fate. She offered that bad girl life I craved.
My parents didn't have much of a clue about the trouble we got ourselves into, but when I started not coming home for curfew on multiple occasions, they put a stop to it. About two years into our "best friendship," my parents told me I could no longer hang out with Kelly. I was crushed, but also strangely relieved.
After I was forbidden to be friends with Kelly, I withdrew into myself again, but then gradually made other friends. Eventually Kelly moved away--I think around freshman year in high school. That was fine with me.
I don't think my parents or I foresaw the importance of this decision. I didn't truly realize this until three days ago when she friended me on Facebook. She has two children---17 and 10, and she was recently released from prison.
"I'm ready for a fresh start. It's never too late to start over," Kelly wrote on her Facebook wall.
I agree and I truly hope my troubled friend finds her way and experiences happiness. I feel sad that she has obviously led such a tough life, but I also feel selfishly fortunate to have drifted away from her as a young girl. Of course I have my parents to thank for that. It takes wise and loving parents to make such difficult decisions.
My parents felt sorry for me I guess, and felt I should try and "be a kid". So, they thrust me into a friendship with a girl who had just moved in with her father, stepmother and two stepbrothers across the street. Kelly was a year older in school, but about 10 years old in terms of experience.
Kelly easily befriended me, kind of relishing having a younger kid to boss around. Before long, I was thrown into her troubled life. She had come to live with her father, after years of physical and mental abuse from her mother. I won't retell her stories. That's for her to do.
It was painfully obvious (even to me at the time) that her actions and personality were a result of the abuse. As an immature soon-to-be fifth grader, I just kind of went along with whatever she wanted, even though a lot of it shocked me. Up until this point, I had been the epitome of a perfect daughter with excellent grades and a goodie two shoes personality. Around this time, I was kind of fed up with being such a good little girl for some reason. I even recall writing in my diary that I wanted to rebel. I guess meeting Kelly was fate. She offered that bad girl life I craved.
My parents didn't have much of a clue about the trouble we got ourselves into, but when I started not coming home for curfew on multiple occasions, they put a stop to it. About two years into our "best friendship," my parents told me I could no longer hang out with Kelly. I was crushed, but also strangely relieved.
After I was forbidden to be friends with Kelly, I withdrew into myself again, but then gradually made other friends. Eventually Kelly moved away--I think around freshman year in high school. That was fine with me.
I don't think my parents or I foresaw the importance of this decision. I didn't truly realize this until three days ago when she friended me on Facebook. She has two children---17 and 10, and she was recently released from prison.
"I'm ready for a fresh start. It's never too late to start over," Kelly wrote on her Facebook wall.
I agree and I truly hope my troubled friend finds her way and experiences happiness. I feel sad that she has obviously led such a tough life, but I also feel selfishly fortunate to have drifted away from her as a young girl. Of course I have my parents to thank for that. It takes wise and loving parents to make such difficult decisions.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Corn dogs and cupcakes
I think I mentioned that I was a portly kid.
Thanks to my parents brainwashing me about my "beauty", my chubbiness didn't really bother me...until other people started pointing it out. The most scarring incident was when my pediatarician, Dr. Hernandez grabbed my belly roll and squeezed it. "I'm going to call this 'the Hernandez Handle'," he proclaimed. Obviously a doctor wouldn't get away with that kind of nonsense these days, but back then you basically listened to whatever the doctor said. I was completely mortified, and I think my mother was scared into cutting back on my lunch snacks. Before then, my lunch usually consisted of bologna and cheese sandwiches on white bread, a bag of Doritos, two cookies and a Capri Sun. To my mom's credit, our dinners were always fairly healthy. We had a salad with dinner every night and we always had to drink our entire glass of milk. For some reason, our lunches left much to be desired in the way of nutrition. After the debacle at the doctor's office, however, I remember Mom including fruit in my lunchbox, and the Doritos weren't so common. Over the years, I somehow found my way in terms of eating right. I went through a phase of practically starving myself in high school. Then, in college I refused to eat any fat, though I often loaded up on carbs. In recent years I finally seem to be getting it right by feeding the family more whole foods. Teaching Julie and Johnny to eat healthy is extremely important to Scott and me. So far it seems to have worked (at least with Julie.) Johnny has this insatiable sweet tooth. But, Julie seems to really get it. We truly believe she's the world's best child eater. She literally eats whatever we serve her, and she usually tries everything....from sushi and seafood to every vegetable and fruit imaginable. She likes treats just like any other kid, but she seems to truly understand the importance of a healthy diet. Her restraint is amazing. I rarely let Julie buy school lunch, but yesterday her bookbag was laden down with books, extra shoes and projects. So, I told her to buy lunch. The poor girl came home, saying she only ate carrots and pineapple chunks because "there was nothing healthy." Yesterday's school lunch menu consisted of corn dogs and nachos. We never told Julie what or what not to eat at school. She made that decision, which made me completely proud. Too bad she had to forgo lunch, but it's pretty amazing that she wants to make healthy eating decisions. You can't say that for every 7 year old.
Seven-year-old Kristy wouldn't have hesitated to scarf down a corn dog, and wash it down with a cupcake.
Thanks to my parents brainwashing me about my "beauty", my chubbiness didn't really bother me...until other people started pointing it out. The most scarring incident was when my pediatarician, Dr. Hernandez grabbed my belly roll and squeezed it. "I'm going to call this 'the Hernandez Handle'," he proclaimed. Obviously a doctor wouldn't get away with that kind of nonsense these days, but back then you basically listened to whatever the doctor said. I was completely mortified, and I think my mother was scared into cutting back on my lunch snacks. Before then, my lunch usually consisted of bologna and cheese sandwiches on white bread, a bag of Doritos, two cookies and a Capri Sun. To my mom's credit, our dinners were always fairly healthy. We had a salad with dinner every night and we always had to drink our entire glass of milk. For some reason, our lunches left much to be desired in the way of nutrition. After the debacle at the doctor's office, however, I remember Mom including fruit in my lunchbox, and the Doritos weren't so common. Over the years, I somehow found my way in terms of eating right. I went through a phase of practically starving myself in high school. Then, in college I refused to eat any fat, though I often loaded up on carbs. In recent years I finally seem to be getting it right by feeding the family more whole foods. Teaching Julie and Johnny to eat healthy is extremely important to Scott and me. So far it seems to have worked (at least with Julie.) Johnny has this insatiable sweet tooth. But, Julie seems to really get it. We truly believe she's the world's best child eater. She literally eats whatever we serve her, and she usually tries everything....from sushi and seafood to every vegetable and fruit imaginable. She likes treats just like any other kid, but she seems to truly understand the importance of a healthy diet. Her restraint is amazing. I rarely let Julie buy school lunch, but yesterday her bookbag was laden down with books, extra shoes and projects. So, I told her to buy lunch. The poor girl came home, saying she only ate carrots and pineapple chunks because "there was nothing healthy." Yesterday's school lunch menu consisted of corn dogs and nachos. We never told Julie what or what not to eat at school. She made that decision, which made me completely proud. Too bad she had to forgo lunch, but it's pretty amazing that she wants to make healthy eating decisions. You can't say that for every 7 year old.
Seven-year-old Kristy wouldn't have hesitated to scarf down a corn dog, and wash it down with a cupcake.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Wednesday Wow
If there is one thing I wasn't born with--it's a sense of style. I probably have my parents to thank for that.
As a kid I didn't put up much of a fuss about clothes. Unlike my sister, I didn't throw a tantrum because I wanted to wear pink frilly dresses every day. When I did finally start caring about my appearance in middle school, I didn't have a clue about fashion. I kind of just followed the crowd to figure out what to wear--which apparently meant pleather jeans and large t-shirts with Maggie Simpson on the front. I didn't improve much in high school when I recall wearing tapered jeans and sports t-shirts or flannels pretty much every day.
Even in college when I tried really hard to look pretty every day just in case I happened to pass by a cute boy or two on the way to class, I was fashion impaired. I usually ended up in a velour top and too baggy jeans, or a pair of cargo shorts and a ribbed t-shirt. Luckily, my trendy roommates often came to the rescue with fashion advice.
In recent, years however, I feel like I have finally found my way in the world of style. I'm still not completely fabulous in that department, but I feel comfortably classy these days when I actually make an effort.
I may have somewhat found my fashion voice, but I find myself wearing gym clothes on most days...mainly because I spend a lot of time at the gym, but also because sweats are comfy.
So, I have made a conscious effort to dress up at least once a week---nice outfit with jewelry, makeup, hair styled and all. I'm calling it the Wednesday Wow.
Here's a sneak peak at some cute bangles I wore today. (Scored them at Target.) Try Wednesday Wow with me!
As a kid I didn't put up much of a fuss about clothes. Unlike my sister, I didn't throw a tantrum because I wanted to wear pink frilly dresses every day. When I did finally start caring about my appearance in middle school, I didn't have a clue about fashion. I kind of just followed the crowd to figure out what to wear--which apparently meant pleather jeans and large t-shirts with Maggie Simpson on the front. I didn't improve much in high school when I recall wearing tapered jeans and sports t-shirts or flannels pretty much every day.
Even in college when I tried really hard to look pretty every day just in case I happened to pass by a cute boy or two on the way to class, I was fashion impaired. I usually ended up in a velour top and too baggy jeans, or a pair of cargo shorts and a ribbed t-shirt. Luckily, my trendy roommates often came to the rescue with fashion advice.
In recent, years however, I feel like I have finally found my way in the world of style. I'm still not completely fabulous in that department, but I feel comfortably classy these days when I actually make an effort.
I may have somewhat found my fashion voice, but I find myself wearing gym clothes on most days...mainly because I spend a lot of time at the gym, but also because sweats are comfy.
So, I have made a conscious effort to dress up at least once a week---nice outfit with jewelry, makeup, hair styled and all. I'm calling it the Wednesday Wow.
Here's a sneak peak at some cute bangles I wore today. (Scored them at Target.) Try Wednesday Wow with me!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The best sister I know
 |
| Scott and I made these silly t-shirts for Kelly's party. On the front: "Haters gonna Hate." On the back was a picture of Kelly's teenage heartthrob Mario Lopez with the caption "Slater's Gonna Slate." |
I'm the first born.
Naturally I covered a lot of ground before my little sister Kelly was born five years later.
By the time she came around I was reading, writing and I had captured my parents' hearts. (And I was obviously quite full of myself.)
I wanted a little sister pretty badly. But once she actually came to live with us, I wasn't a fan of this screaming little bundle...at least at first.
For five years, I had my parents all to myself and there didn't seem to be a problem with that. I was obviously a little spoiled and self-centered, but I was a "perfect angel". (Those are my dad's words, not mine.)
All of the sudden my peaceful little world was turned upside down. There were times when my mom's bedroom door was closed while she nursed baby Kelly. I remember just sitting outside that closed door and feeling completely sorry for myself. I wanted to play a game with Mommy darn it. Why didn't she want to play with me anymore?
The worst of it came when Kelly was a toddler and preschooler and little girl. Because she was absolutely the most adorable little girl EVER. And, I hated that. She had the biggest blue eyes with the longest eyelashes. Don't get me started on her adorable little dimple. Everyone noticed.
Around the same time I had the misfortune of getting the worst haircut ever and people constantly mistook me for a boy. So whenever we were out as a family, it was "the beautiful little girl and her nice older brother." That was the worst let me tell you.
And Kelly was a little ham too. She was so friendly and outgoing. Meanwhile, there was me, looking like a chubby boy, who was scared to death to raise her hand in school, let alone say hello to a stranger.
Those years were rough. Even though I was insanely jealous of my adorable little sister, I couldn't help but love her. Because she was crazy about me. She followed me around, constantly wanting me to play with her and do the same things that I did. She called me "Re-Re".
I can't describe what it felt like for someone to look up to me so blindly. Kelly seemed to love me unconditionally, and she forgave and forgot like no one I have ever known.
Over the years, of course we fought, but I'm sure the phases where I just plain ignored her hurt the most. All through middle school and high school, I didn't want much to do with my younger sister. And in college, I could have invited her to spend the weekend, but I was too selfish and immersed in college life. Kelly could have held all this against me, or at least been a little distant to me. But, that's not her way.
After college, when I finally decided family was most important, she wanted nothing more than to have me by her side. She invited me to her dorm room to hang out with her friends freshman year, and on her 21st birthday she was excited for me to come and go out with her. She has been my cheerleader all the years after--excited by every milestone. She was my maid of honor, my first-born's Godmother, and she was the first to seem truly happy for us about our move to Chicago.
I truly do not deserve such a selfless, caring sister.
So, this weekend I threw her a surprise 30th birthday party. Fifty people--family and friends--came to the party.
Kelly was shocked. And, when she saw me she started crying.
"I can't believe all these people came for me," Kelly whispered in my ear in disbelief.
She would never think that. That's just Kelly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)