Mama Vivas - It's a Vivas Thing!

Mar 26 2010

He’s Unique!

And you gotta love him for it!

The Smart One, that is.

He has the ability to crack you up.

He'll walk into a room, thrilled, because he's learned to do yet one more weird thing with his body.

I'm talking about him walking in to the room, so proud, because not only can he fold his tongue in half, now he's found some other weird way to roll it. It kind of looks like a bowl. I can't do it. He tried to teach me once; I thought I was going to suck my tongue down my throat and choke in the process!

He loves to run up while I try to hobble down the stairs and have me hold on to his shoulders so we can dance our way down in a conga line. Well, he dances, I hobble.

He loves to sing all of the "Free Credit Report.com" songs.

He's a huge fan of origami. I'm talking it's an obsession! And he's good at it! He's also good at Etch a Sketch.

He has his young cousin calling him the genius. His older brother is slightly bothered at how he just knows things.

He actually knows what DNA stands for; and can even spell it out!

He's amazing with nun-chucks. I don't know how he manages not to hurt himself!

Did I mention he cracks me up? Last night, B-boo was showing me her dance for dance try-outs at school. The Smart One wanted to show me his dance. I reminded him that he doesn't have a dance. He insisted he did. He was so insistent, I caved and told him to show me.

It's amazing how fast he can come up with something…and move his skinny little body in such a laughable way. Yeah, he had a dance. I was hysterical.

And he never stops. Well, except when he's asleep. And please don't wake him. He's NOT funny, when he's been woke up from his beauty sleep.

Just now, he walked into my room. He asked me to look at what he could do. And then…

he proceeded to stand in place and flop his arms back and forth like rubber bands trying to take flight…

because he wanted me to hear how funny his bones sounded when he does that because they can pop.

And then, he lies down on the bed and crawls under a blanket and moves really, really fast; because he wants to see if he can create sparks from electricity.

You see, his brain never stops working. He's always trying to come up with some new invention. He doesn't take "no" for an answer. And he rises to the challenge. For instance, he was once offered $20 by his oldest brother if he could lick his elbow. The Good-Looking One thought it would be funny watching him try, because he knew it was impossible.

He was wrong. The Smart One took the twenty bucks!

Yes, he is most definitely unique.

Mar 25 2010

Fun Times

It's been six weeks since my surgery and this madness started. The most maddening part is still having to be on bed rest (couch rest) when my brain is back to functioning!

And it is great friends, young and old alike who help me to get through it.

Phone calls are great.

Playing hearts with *my girls* are even better!

Winning even better! LOL…does that make me shallow?

And chocolate eclairs.

And the unexpected blessing of a meal for my family.

And friends that miss me and show up on a Wednesday night with ice cream and cookies and a long chat.

These are some of my *JOY* this week!

And it is family, who are so sweet. Bible study in the morning with the Smart One.

Doing B-boo's hair for dance try-outs.

The Princess allowing me to comb through her hair and get the tangles out, because she asked me to.

Nice weather; cuddles, chats, and giggles.

These are the things that bring me joy this week!

Mar 23 2010

Happy Birthday to my favorite Ox!

This is the Drama Queen and her cousin. I like to call him an Ox. He is only six months older than she is, yet he is HUGE! These two crack us up. They think it's dumb that cousins can't marry. So, they have plans to be best pals for life. He'll be a famous football player and go to the Superbowl. She'll be a pop-star and sing during his half-time game. They'll have a house together. A big house. There is not a day that goes by when she doesn't beg me to let her go play with her cousin. And heaven forbid if he ignores her for her older brother; the bigger cousin that he adores. Life on earth stops as we know it!

Anyway, today he is officially in double digits.

Happy Birthday! We love you!

Mar 23 2010

Whiners

I have a problem with whiners. As a mom of five plus two, I've put up with a lot of whining over the years. I've learned to tune a lot of it out. Sometimes I'll address it in a not so normal way; depending on what the whine is about. The following are actual conversations:

Whiner: "It's not fair! How come bla bla bla?"

Me: "Because I love *** more than you today."

This is followed by an open mouth stare. But hey, it stops the whining!

(And yes, my kids know I love them, so don't think too ill of me!)

Whiner: "Why do I have to bla bla bla?"

Which is usually followed by me with, "Why do I have to bla bla bla?"

They stop, because they know I can come up with more than they can!

There are many times, of course, when I will simply suggest that I can adjust their attitudes if they'd like me to.

The two youngest are the worst! Whine combing hair; whine brushing teeth; whine making their beds. Whine, whine, whine!

Even the dumb dog is whining this week! Joey drives me nuts. I'll admit it. When we first picked out the dogs, he was hiding. We waited forever to see him. I should have walked out while I had the chance. But, I had three children and a grandma looking at me with those pitiful faces and we went home with two pups that day instead of one.

Roxy could care less if Joey is around, but Joey can't handle it. It's even worse now that she is in heat and I have them separated. He seriously has not stopped crying for days and won't eat. (Actually, he finally ate a bit yesterday after several non-eating days. I wasn't too worried though, because if food drops on the floor, he bee-lines for it!) He's whining so much that we've had to move him to the garage! And I can still hear him. The only time he stops whining is if he thinks I'm going to let him near her. NOT!

The worst of the whining is in my head! I am absolutely, without a doubt, stir crazy! I am tired of being bed-ridden/couch-ridden. I try hard not to cry, but sometimes, it gets the best of me. (I'm sure the added hormones for healing are not helping). I'm tired of being in pain. I'm tired of not being able to sit and not hurt; stand and not hurt.

Yesterday was bad, too. I had to attend a meeting and the elevator was broke, which meant I had to walk up two flights of stairs and then sit on a pillow on a hard chair for two hours. By the time I got home I could barely move.

And then, I didn't particularly care that I have to deal with things longer than I want to deal with them. I wanted to scream, "I'm tired, God! How much more?"

And then, my eldest informed me that he won't be spending Easter with us because he has other plans. Which I understand, but it's been rough so far this year, and I really wanted my family with me this Easter. And it sucks that he is getting older and is making his own plans that don't' include his family.

And then…well, my wound was a mess last night.

And I cried and cried and cried. And hubby came in, and I whined and whined and whined.

Poor man.

I can't stand whiners.

Especially when the whiner is me.

So, this morning, when the Drama Queen came in whining, I just had her crawl in bed with me, told her I loved her, and cuddled with her for a bit.

Sometimes we just need a hug.

(Please excuse me now; I have to go take care of a whiner…stop laughing.)

Mar 19 2010

Hide-n-Seek

I'm sick and tired of seeing doctors. Really. I'm tired of waiting rooms and being told to be patient and take it easy and let myself recover. It's been 5 weeks already for goodness sake! I don't want to be told it will take 14 to 16 more weeks, or even a few more weeks. I don't want to be told to stay off the stairs and stay on the couch or my bed. Who wants to spend their time laying around all the time!?!

And I was dreading this morning's appointment, too.

But then, as we sat and waited, I watched this dark haired little girl with an orange balloon playing in a little cubby while her mommy waited to see the doctor. She was so cute; about three. And then, another mommy showed up with a little red haired girl about the same age. And the dark haired cutie asked,

"You wanna pway wif me?"

And the red haired girl says,

"Yeah!"

I sat there and chuckled at their three year old conversation. It's been a long time since I've had one that young! And then, the dark haired girls asked,

"Do you wanna pway hide en seek?"

"Yeah!" was the reply.

So the dark haired girl had the red haired girl count. And she was so cute, with her head against the wall, counting in her little girl voice while the dark haired girl raced across the waiting room with her orange balloon!

And I was reminded of times when my own children hid.

I remember when my oldest, now 22, was about the same age. Grandma was watching him and she called me in a panic one day. She had looked everywhere for him and couldn't find him anywhere. This went on forever; until she discovered him hiding under the organ bench, giggling while she frantically searched for him.

Or when my youngest, not even two, was our little Houdini. One day we were all sitting in the living room watching TV. On my way into the kitchen, I asked them all not to let her out of their sight. When I walked back into the living room, she was gone. Just…like…that.

No one had seen her move. We searched the house; searched outside. Searched the garage. We searched up and down the streets. And just when we frantically ran inside to call 911, I happened to catch a glimpse of her little lime green outfit. Behind her doll stroller. She was all tucked up under; watching; giggling. Hiding.

Or B-boo. Who was a climber. So much so, that at 10 months, we had to zip her into her crib. You can read about that here. Anyway, by the time she was about 18 months, she could climb anything. And I mean anything! I'd find her *hiding* on top of our 8 ft tall entertainment center! One day, I found her hiding on top of the refrigerator. She wasn't so much about hiding, I think, as about climbing. Until she could climb no more. We couldn't let her out of our sight, because we never knew where we'd find her!

And then there was the Smart One. He didn't do a lot of *physical* hiding, but he loved to hide under bowls. As in if he wasn't wearing them as a hat, he'd hide his face under them. Under blankets. He thought he was so cute. (So did we!)

And the Talented One. I remember him hiding his face in his hands, knowing that if he couldn't see us, we couldn't see him. We'd laugh and go along with it.

So, I guess the waiting room wasn't so bad today. I had the privilege of being taken back in time; somehow how finding those memories that had been hidden up until this morning.