Lauren Ferguson | There are no mistakes in art, just opportunites to embellish. (tm)

Being a member has its priveledges

You know when you just look at your family and they do something and there is no denying it is a direct reflection of you.

I am not saying all the little mini me things that my kids do or the expressions or silliness. Living in my house that is to be expected.

But I have actually rubbed off on my husband. Get your head out of the gutter, I mean crafty thinking related.

When I was coming home from CHA, he was sworn in as a US Citizen. Yes, while I was in the air crossing from sea to shining sea, he was taking the oath to be a citizen.

Guess what he did,He had someone take a picture of him while he was taking the oath with his iPhone.

Now has he been trained up or has he been trained up.

It is nice to now finally not have to worry about him having the proper visas for us to travel and take family vacations.

I did not have a chance to tell y'all it was a good day here in the Nwachukwu Family.

until we meet again,

Happy Birthday to Me!!

****Warning!!! Spew Alert!!!!****  ****Warning!!! Spew Alert!!!!****  ****Warning!!! Spew Alert!!!!****  ****Warning!!! Spew Alert!!!!****  ****Warning!!! Spew Alert!!!!****  ****Warning!!! Spew Alert!!!!****

Yes, today is my 43rd birthday. It was not until recently that birthdays became a time of reflection.

This only started in the past 5 years...  Then it hits me.  I have children.  Those kids change your life forever.

I immediately became old. Yes, but I say that with a bit of pride. I am wise, I can honestly look at my kids and say to them "Because I know better and you don't."

So please be clear aging does have it benefits.

Oh, but I digressed. 

So this morning I wake up, the kids have once again managed to sneak into my bed in the middle of the night and practically push me on the floor.

And they do not come in until that last 2 hours or REM sleep to start the I want breakfast thing. You know that howling that kids make when they are hungry and the sun has not come up just yet.

Ok, so I woke up this morning and told the kids that it was my birthday.

Oh the chorus of "Happy Birthday to you, you live in a zoo... You look like a monkey and you smell like one toooooo!!!" is still ringing in my head.

My husband calls to wish me Happy Birthday, it is a really good morning so far.

Then it happens, that thing ...

My daughter says to me "Mama how old are you?"

Now I am debating do I tell her the truth and have to start that old conversation with her or do I make up something funny and push her along. It is 7.30am. We still have 30 minutes. Oh lets just jump in and get it over...

"I'm 43. Why do you ask?"
"43!!  43!!!  43!!!"
"Yep, I am 43."

"Mama you are so old. Oh my do you know how old 43 is. I don't. How do you do it?"

So now for the speech...

"Chi-Chi, Getting older is not that bad. You make it sound like it is not fun. You get to have fun along the way. You will be able to drive and vote. You will have great opportunities to do great stuff and have great memories.

You will be able to have a family of your own one day and share all those wonderful experiences."

Just like at 5 year old, she looks at me and says with the just tell me the truth look, "Mama you have to tell me, does getting old hurt?"

I of course go on to explain that somethings in life are painful but we grow and live through them.

She stops me in mid sentence and says "No Mama does it hurt?"

Oh my all I could do was laugh.  And I looked at her and said,"Yes, my back is killing me every time I big you up and carry you down the stairs for breakfast. Yes, my hands are starting to get stiff every time I have to put together another piece of Ikea furniture for your room. Yes, my eyes are starting to go bad and I need my reading glasses at night to make sure that we get through the Christmas Carol in time for Santa. Yes Chi Chi, getting old does hurt, sometimes."

Without missing a beat she says, "But all that stuff is fun! Do you think that it is worth it?"

And I responded, "A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y!"

I look at my iPhone and realize it is 10 minutes to 8 and we now need to rush. So I tell her to hurry and get ready so that we will not be late. 

She say to me "Why?"

And I just said, "Because I am your Mama and I said so, Now Hurry Up or we will be late for school. Run!"

Getting old has its graces.

until we meet again,

Photo Ops with the kids...

Last weekend I cleaned the car out with the kids. Of course they loved it. I let them be responsible for all of the inside.

Then I asked them if they wanted to do laundry or go to the park.  You guessed it they wanted to do laundry... NOT... They wanted to go to the park. 

So off we go to drive around the corner to go to the walking trail.  I even remembered my camera. 

My daughter watches way too much America's Next Top Model. The boys on the other hand finally told me no more pictures.

I have to admit that I love the photos, here are just a few of my favorites.

 

 

   

We had such a good time at the park. What was really nice was that a couple stopped and took a picture of us. It is not that often that I get photos with the kids. It was the cherry on top of a perfect day.

until we meet again,

Going to hang with my peeps...

Well, today has been a busy day.

Mom had knee replacement surgery today.  She came out of it well. 

Oh no worries, she is your typical mom. She is short and stout.

She has raised two kids, chased us all over the globe and now has grandkids.

So I am off to do my tour of duty.  I get the evening shifts.

I am going to get some peaceful crafting done while I sit in the hospital with my mom just doing what I do and letting her know that I am there.

Wish there was more to say, but it just a matter of keeping up with this thing called life.

until we meet again,

My first love note

Oh, you did not tell me how good it feels when you go to school and get all refrigerator art from your kids at school.

OK, so can I be perfectly honest... I did not save all the other stuff. You know that stuff that gets on the fridge for encouragement, but when the cleaning lady comes it miraculously finds its way into the circle file.

I kept some things but those were always given to my parents so that they can keep it because they are good like that.

Well, I got my first love note from Chi-Chi today. She wrote it all by herself. She even made sure that she spelled "mommy" correct.

Oh and can I say that it is my first true only for mama and not for anyone else who could have picked her up from school on the list kinda art.

until we meet again,

22 days and counting...

Well, my darling husband is in Nigeria for the next 22 days. 

I am going to practice this single mother head of household thing again!!

Last time he was gone for over 4 months. This time, I put my foot down. I made him wait until his ducks were in a row before he could leave.

Because once he is there it is a sit and wait kinda game.

Plus, he gets homesick so quick that it is even worse than if he is here and driving me crazy.

I have to admit that the first few days are great. My house runs like clockwork.

I run a tight ship. I am in charge it is a benevolent dictatorship. They don't have to like it, they just have to do it.

I have a rule in my house, I learned it from my parents, you can be mad, just pick up your toys because it is such a waste of energy to be mad and put it to go use.

You can disagree with me, but I don't want to hear it. Just clean up your room.

You can cry until you have no more tears, just get in the bathtub and take a bath, because dirt bumps are bad and we don't want any dirt bumps in this house.

You can beg until you are blue in the face, but after they are done, they must put their dishes in the sink.

Now, I have gotten the kids trained. Training my husband would make my life so much easier.

Since he is gone for the month, I will have these little buggers ship shape so that when he gets back, he will undoubtedly mess up our two step and be the Daddy that the kids love and just throw a monkey wrench into my mix.

So now to put them down for a nap because we have to go plant blueberry trees at my Aunt Jean's house this afternoon.

My theory is this...

(mess made by kids)³ * (amount of time it takes to make the mess in seconds) =

GOOD TIME HAD BY ALL!!!

until we meet again,

i am knee deep in ...

every germy thing that kids can throw at you.

One does not go anywhere without the bucket. I just cannot let him throw up on another spot on my carpet.

I have been washing sheets and pillow cases two and three times. I just finally go to the point where I am coverng the bed in towels

I was thinking plastic bags, then I realized that was not a good idea.

My daughter is just sleeping and eating crackers. She cannot put anything on her belly. She is just grateful for a few sips of ginger ale and some Gatorade.

And oh my gosh, if I have one more bout with the runny poop. Oh, that is the worst of all.

I can do anything but the poop. I have actually run out of laundry detergent. In my house that just never happens.  I always have toilet paper, paper towels, wipes and detergent.

Oh, I was so excited thinking that I had missed this round with the roto virus. I was so glad because the last time I heard someone having it, the bug was in AZ.

I even had the kids helping me wash the walls this morning. They loved it...  Until...

I had another bout of the push me pull me's.  So they have had a nap and they are now just trying to kill each other.

Well, I wish that the world was as deep and self absorbed as last night but nope... Sick kids, and laundry up to my eyeballs.

Don't you love how reality just steps in and gives you a swift kick in the behind to remind you that in the end there are days when you are covered in shit.

until we meet again,

And they all wore white shirts...

My darling husband got this crazy idea that he wanted to have all of the kids take a pictures in the park and we had to wear white shirts.

Yes, we went straight for cheesey. 

Now I did not make sure that they were all the exact same shirt in all our sizes. 

I just did not have the time for that.

But I did make sure that the girls were wearing the same shirt and that my husband and the boys were wearing the same shirt.

So they came out really cute. 

Oh and did I mention that we invited my parents. 

These are my favorites out of the group.

I only have a few more hours to get some stuff done for CHA and then I must switch gears and get ready to teach this weekend. 

until we meet again,

Family Bonding for Mom's Birthday

Yesterday was mom's birthday. 

So Saturday, we took the whole family and went to go see The Lion King.

Now, I have seen it 4 times and B'dway.  I even convinced my parents to take her to see it on B'dway when they lived in NJ.

But the boys had never seen it.  And I really wanted them to see it.  So since it came to Atlanta, I convinced my Dad to purchase 9 tickets so that we could all go.

For me the experience was, seeing their faces when the actors came down the aisle and being able to watch that glow.

I will admit that the show seemed much more dramatic to me on B'dway.  But that could be me just having that northern blood running through my veins.

No matter what, a good time was had by all.  The boys did not know any different.  Chi Chi who had seen it already did not notice anything different.  She just smiled and sang along with it like it was her first time seeing it.

I just think back to what I was doing when I was 3 and 5.  Nope, I was not sitting in the theater watching a play.  Nope, I was lucky to get to the movie theater.  Yikes!! 

until we meet again,

Hanging with my Peeps

Yesterday was such a great day.

Mom called and wanted me to bring the kids over for dinner.  It was such a perfect day out.

I took the kids over and Mom had the BBQ fired up.  My parents just put a pond in their backyard with a waterfall.  The kids picked out some fish and this was the first time that they had seen them in the water.

But the most exciting part of the evening is when my Dad took Chi-Chi outside to ride her bicycle.

It is just amazing the memories that my kids are going to have.  My parents are in such a wonderful place in their lives right now.  They are just so full of that stuff that makes Grandparents Grand.

until we meet again,