Clever Engineering Caden Style

This morning Caden was making himself two slices of peanut buttter toast for breakfast as I was making a cup of coffee. I saw that he was struggling and trying not to make a mess so I offered to finish it for him. He'd already done one piece and as I took the knife from him, said, "Mom, don't do that one, I already did it and I left a clean spot for my thumb to hold onto it".

He'd spread the peanut butter all over, leaving a small spot on the corner of the bread uncovered, so that he could hold onto it without dirtying his fingers with peanut butter. Smart Boy!

We got a good laugh out of it and thought it was quite clever on his part.

Happy 13th Birthday, Monkey!

Happy Birthday, Monkey!

It's official, I now have two teenage daughters. How many times have I said that time flies? Well, it does.

Thirteen years ago I was awakened by a sudden gush and actually thought I'd wet the bed. I immediately jumped up and ran to the bathroom. It was early morning, but still dark outside. As I reached the bathroom I felt another big gush and looked down to see a wet liquid on the bathroom floor. I jumped into the shower to keep from making a bigger mess and hollered at my mother-in-law, who was staying with us in Hawaii for Cassidy's birth, to come assess the situation.

We decided to let Les sleep a little longer while I showered and got ready to go. It turned out to be a leak, my water hadn't officially broken, but it trickled all the way to the hospital. Her labor and birth was the easiet of the three. She was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii and they took better care of me there than at any civilian hopsital I've encountered.

She was born wide eyed, looking around and holding her head up. From day one she was not going to sit still for anyone and no one was going to hold her back. It was all we could do to keep up with her. She was so different from our other two, and by no means an ordinary baby. She no-doubt earned her nickname.

She started playing ball as soon as she could hold one and it never really mattered what kind, whether it was a baseball, softball, basketball, football, volleyball, etc., although she prefers a basketball these days.

She's always been our strong willed, stubborn child. I've always heard the saying, "if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy", and wanted to appropriately change the words to "If Monkey ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". We so need that hanging on a wall somewhere in this house!

Cass, we hope you have a wonderful birthday. We love you and hope 13 is a great year for you. (I'm posting this a little early)

All Grown Up!

I knew it was coming, but deep down, I was hoping she might change her mind. I have to stop thinking of myself and realize what an opportunity this is for her to go out into the world and experience a new chapter in her life. It’s official. Our baby girl signed a lease on an apartment this weekend. She’s moving to College Station on January 1st. How’s that for starting the new year?

I’m both excited and happy for her. I’m just sad for us. She’s gone much of the time now, but she still lives here. Having her move out will be so strange! At least now I can just open her door or peak onto the driveway to see her car and know she made it home safely.

She’ll have her own bedroom and bathroom with three roommates. The apartment is furnished so her room here will be kept “as is” for when she comes home to visit.

She’s not too happy that Cassidy will be moving into her room. It’s bigger and there’s no point in letting it sit empty, except on the weekends when she visits, so we’re just switching their rooms. Cassidy is already planning the décor and arrangement of her furniture and will probably volunteer to help her pack next week!

We’re all going to miss you, Nawen. Maybe we’ll all just go with you! Ha!

Ebay Addiction

Question: What do you call an eleven-year-old eBay addict?

Answer: Caden

Do they have support groups for this? It all started about two months ago when Lauren made the mistake of introducing Caden to eBay. He hasn’t been the same since. It was like love at first sight. Baseball cards, baseball stuff, DVD’s, (like a full season of Everybody Loves Raymond), old coins, etc. He’s used up all of his own money and now has a running tab with us. (That’s okay, it’s better than us owing him for a change).

He sits with the laptop for what seems like hours tracking bids and surfing the latest items. His first order was 1,000 unopened baseball cards for $25. He checked the mail everyday until they finally arrived. Then he ordered a glow in the dark Arizona Diamondbacks baseball and an 1892 coin.

He actually told me one day that he was going to stay off of eBay because he just couldn't take the stress of seeing all of the cool items and not having any money to bid on them. That didn't last long. He still can't control the urge to browse. He has new items to show us everyday, hoping we'll get soft and offer him additional credit on his outstanding payment history.

I'm sure he'll eventually get over this obsession so I'm not too worried, yet. If not, we may look into that support group, after all.

Diagnosis: Dishwasher Anxiety Disorder

I have obsessive-compulsive disorder about many things. Too bad it isn’t a spotless house. I do try, but some people (ahem....no names mentioned) make that an impossible task.

One thing I just can’t seem to do without my OCD rearing its ugly head is loading the dishwasher. It absolutely drives me insane if I can’t fit everything into the dishwasher before starting it. I also hate to run it if it’s not at least to full capacity, which probably contributes to the other problem. I will literally spend fifteen minutes rearranging the whole thing if it means I can squeeze one more bowl or pan in. I think I could be considered a dishwasher loading professional. In spite of that useless quality, there are still times, like tonight, when I just have to accept the fact that I am going to be forced to start it with a few extra things staring back at me from the kitchen sink.

Lauren ate with us tonight, which is rare these days, and on top of her joining us for dinner, she also helped me clean up a little without any prompting on my part. It was during my futile attempts to cram every last thing in that I shared my disorder with her and she laughed that I actually spend time on this.

I also tried to talk her into not making any cookies because then I would have more dirty dishes waiting on me in the morning. She won that battle and I’m off to enjoy a warm cookie. I hope I can walk quietly away from the kitchen without trying one last time to make everything fit.

Taste Buds

This is a list of the many foods that I missed out on for years because I was so picky and afraid to try new things. Most of these things were introduced to me by my husband, though he would now like to kick himself every time our restaurant bill is placed on the table. I used to be so simple minded and easy to please, not to mention a cheap date.

As a teen I lived on salads with lots of cheese and ranch dressing. On our first date I ate the salad bar and nibbled on some chicken. Oh, how he wishes that was still the case.

When we spent three years living in California and he used to go down to Fisherman’s Wharf to get fresh clam chowder. I never even wanted a bite. I now love clam chowder and can’t believe I ever passed it up. This was also the case with seafood gumbo.

I didn’t eat shrimp in any way shape or form until we moved to Hawaii. I was 23 or 24 at that time. What was I thinking? Now I eat it every chance I get. I had my first lobster five years ago and have been hooked every since. I started eating crawfish about seven years ago at the age of 30!

I didn’t eat strawberries until I was in my late twenties. I recently discovered that mango and papaya taste pretty good, too.

I used to never dream of eating a mushroom and now I can’t get enough. I tried my first sweet potato just a few years ago.

I have always loved corned beef sandwiches but sauerkraut? No way. About two months ago he talked me into trying a bite of his Rueben sandwich and I almost ripped it out of his hand to finish eating it. We went back to eat there three times that week just so I could have a Reuben before finally buying the ingredients to make them at home.

The list could go on and on.

As expensive as it’s been for me to try and like new things, he actually loves it when he turns me onto something new, especially if he gets to do the “I told you so dance”!