Did you get gas?

That is the question my husband just asked me as he peeked his head in the door looking at me with an odd look on his face. I thought he was happy that I did it because we are heading out early tomorrow morning and I wanted to do something nice for him. "Um do you know that you didn't put the gas cap or shut the gas door?" "OH that is because Helen was screaming the entire time I was pumping the gas and I must have been distracted."
Oh, my dear Helen  screaming again and it is bedtime. We all need to get up early tomorrow and really can't have your screaming away while everyone is trying to get to sleep. Not to mention it is really upsetting everyone. So why is Miss Helen screaming this time... the reasons are always so varied but I'm beginning to think it all comes down to her not having things go HER way. The script that she has so carefully written is not being followed.

We'll need to insert a little flashback to our movie:
Earlier today we went to a birthday party for my 4 year old niece. It was a very nice day spent with our extended family. It was the first time I was able to see and visit with my mother in law since she had a stroke on Monday. Everyone has been pitching in and helping out and the way that I help is by watching my nices so that Victoria can focus on her mom and the many doctor visits. So you can only imagine that Helen's outbursts and general disagreeability is not something anyone is in the mood for this week more so than normal. Today's ridiculousness was because I questioned what she put on after the kids went swimming. I noticed that she was wearing swimshorts and I asked why she was wearing them. She insisted she thought they were shorts. In the whole scheme of things whether she wears swimshorts as shorts is not a big deal at all to me. What bothers me is that she said she thought they were shorts. I'm pretty sure YESTERDAY she wore these same "shorts" white water rafting with us as a bathing suit. Again it doesn't matter but I just don't appreciate this ridiculous totally unnecessary lie. (I have 5 kids and can understand lying but I expect you to come clean when I call you on it... but as anyone out there with a kid who has RAD knows lying to them is second nature and seems to be a game to see if/how I'll react to it)
I let it go while we are at the party and wait until we get home to broach the subject.
"So Helen, I'm pretty sure these are the same "shorts" you wore swimming yesterday."
"I really thought they were shorts."
 "Fine. Let's go upstairs and you can show me where you got them from."
 I figured she got them from the pile of clean swimsuits from yesterday... and wouldn't you know, she takes me to her room and says, "I got them from my swimsuit drawer."
 "Well of course you did, thinking they were shorts, of course they were in your swimsuit drawer."
This lead to what I call the whirlwind of her screaming and insisting that she thought they were shorts.
 She REALLY REALLY did think they were shorts.

So here it was time for the kids to go to bed and again Helen was screaming. There is no stopping her when she gets going on the "really reallies". She either "really really IS telling the truth." "really really wants to do (fill in the blank)..." "really really cares about...(ususally me and after doing something that makes it clear that she really really doesn't) So we do our nightly prayers downstairs while she is upstairs screaming... FUN TIMES and I am already planning to take her out for a ride so the kids can have some peace... and then Rob goes upstairs to speak to her... He tells her to go out to the car, I go and grab a snack and head out with her. Tonight's outing leads me to the gas station to get the truck filled up and ready for us tomorrow. I usually tend to find a way to "help out" when I am frustrated and try to make positive use of the time. I cranked up KLOVE on the radio and sing praise songs to her screaming chorus in the background. (KLOVE is a Christian radio station that we almost exclusively listen to) Tonight is the first time I ever forgot to put the gas cover back on though. HMMMM... I wonder what could be distracting me... so many things to choose from. No harm done though.

I pulled into our driveway and ate the snack I brought with me. By this time she is done screaming. Helen goes inside and off to bed without a word. We can now all sleep in peace and get ready for tomorrow's adventures.

I can't wait to tell you about the very funny experience I had with the supersized cupcake cake I made my niece. I even have photos to share. But alas not tonight... I too need my rest. It will make for a rather amusing blogpost though... let's just say trying out a new cake pan for the first time (the ones on television commercials that look like GIANT CUPCAKES) and waking up to NO POWER made for a pretty amusing morning.

We are 5 & 2 Scotts,

Reality Blogging

Okay I have to admit that I just love looking at all the beautiful blogs out there. There are some amazing women out there who seem to have beautiful homes, beautiful children and beautiful marriages. They also seem to have lots of spare time to put together beautiful blogs that document these beautiful lives all with beautiful music playing in the background. Now this is not sour grapes by any means. I love my life. My husband and I have a great marriage and we are coming up on our sweet 16th wedding anniversary in September. We have 5 children and are able to spend a lot of time with them and enjoy raising them. I am a stay at home mom and I watch my 2 nieces. I love being an aunt and that the cousins are really getting to know each other. Life truly is good. So where am I going with this. There is a part of me that would love a beautiful place to blog, something a little shabby and very chic. Better still I have plenty of space for it. Our bedroom is big enough to have a sitting area that would be perfect. Our dining room and formal living room area would be a great place for blogging too. Actually these rooms would be even better because I could still be near my family while blogging. So why don't I have a beautiful blogging spot? I could say it is because I'm so busy being with my family that I don't have time or that I have been a clutter collector for so long that I can't seem to get through it but really they would only be partly the truth. The real truth is that I am finallly breaking through the clutter. Lots of it has been donated, trashed or sold. I'm not sure what my hang up is.... I'm not sure I want that for myself.... or is it that I don't feel deserving? I hear my daughter say that she wants a better life but then she self sabotages herself left and right. She has an attachment disorder. She doesn't truly feel worthy of good things and good relationships. Maybe there is a small part of me that shares that with her. It's something to think about and then move on to just do it. It might be good. I'll let you know. I might even post some photos.

Is a Blog a Blog Without photos?

So I've noticed that I've been putting off blogging for a while now. The reason goes right back to my perfectionism... AGAIN.
I have not found a simple way to upload the photos from my camera to my computer and without photos I feel that my blog posts are lacking, less than perfect and thus not worth doing... because if it's not worth doing well then why do it. That thought process gets in my way on occasion much more often than I'd like to admit. I even started another blog for my less than perfect crafting projects. Obviously I have an issue issues.

Now I sit hear trying to decide if I go back and catch you up on what's been going on since my last post or just jump in with today. My thought is to live in the now and learn from the past so I'll go with that. Let's see, the boys went out to see Monster Trucks at Lebanon Valley Speedway on Tuesday. So yesterday I spent some time out with Megan. Justin and Megan had been asking where their report cards are. I too had been wondering but thought maybe they got mixed in a pile of mail someplace. Yesterday morning I decided to call and was told that because Megan did not return a library book they were holding the report cards. I laughed. REALLY for an $8 fine? Are you holding Justin's as well? They were. As a librarian, I appreciate the policy and I'm sure we either DID get the letter and I just assumed Meg brought in the $8 the next day... there was a flury of activities that needed envelopes of money sent in at the end of school or maybe Meg hid misplaced the notice. Considering Meg's response was, "OH I took that book out in December and couldn't find it and I didn't want you to know." either possibility could have happened. I used it as another an example of how trying to hide things from mom is never a good idea because here it is SEVEN months later and it's all come out. Off to the school we went. The report cards were excellent and included a 2010 - 2011 school calendar which is helpful and subject to change (as we have discovered).

Megan was so excited, like giddy, to go out and pick out her school supplies. Seventh grade is the year of the 1 1/2" many colored binders. Wehave She has now committed to color coding our her subjects. The locker organizing "stuff" is just amazing today. We were lucky to have a mirror and TAPED pictures in our lockers back in the day. Today locker decorating is a racket has an entire section of the store dedicated to it.

So when I can, I'll insert some fun school supply shopping pictures.... or you can just do your own school supply shopping (and be shocked by the pricetag for yourself). THAT's a whole other blog...

We're 5 & 2 @ 52,