Jealousy A Brewin

Now, I know that whenever I make a post about my family all of you just writhe in jealousy. I don't blame you. If I were you, I would be jealous too. I do have an incredibly awesome family. I know that you all want to be there while we are doing pole acrobatics, snow sledding in a parking lot behind a car or wearing crazy hats while eating our desserts. You are welcome anytime. In the meantime, get ready to slap on another coat of Griner Envy.

Today was a very long day and all of my kids were in bed and asleep by 7:00. Just at that time, my mom called and invited me to go out to dinner with my parents, and two of my brothers. Harvey graciously agreed to be a babysitter (not that he had a great deal of choice in the matter.)

I met my family at a Chinese restaurant and we were seated. Immediately, my two brothers (one being 29 and the other 18 years old) hopped up from the table. Assuming they were off to the restroom, I didn't think much of it. However, they promptly returned with a handful of cardboard cards. They were ecstatic over the treasures that they had procured. I was confused, which is not an unusual sensation when I am with my family.

They quickly opened up their little cardboard packages to reveal a score of temporary tattoos. Apparently this whole week, the family has been seeking out locations where they could buy these tattoos and putting them all over their bodies. I know. Hard to believe they are all grown adults isn't it. I heard that my brother even got a dragon one a few days ago and had it stuck to his forehead with the tail trailing down his nose.

But I digress. Soon there was bartering going on around the table as to which person was going to get which dragon tattoo tonight. Almost immediately they (everyone save my cute, sweet mother) started dipping their napkins into their water to afix these colorful dragons to their arms. My dad, still disappointed that they were out of SpongeBob tats, sighed and resigned himself to plastering a red dragon to the inside of his forearm.

Then, the light bulb look flickers in his eyes. I know that look and need to learn to LOOK AWAY!!! He pipes up with glee in his voice with the grand epiphany that I need to join the ranks of the painted Griners. He finds a hot pink dragon and think that it would be perfect for me. The place that he thinks that it would look the best would be on my neck.

Although I fought the idea for several minutes, I finally lost out to group think and conceded to let my dad place a dragon tattoo to my neck in the middle of a family Chinese restaurant. Now, I did get looks for the rest of the evening from all of the people surrounding us at the other tables. They must have thought that I was quite the diamond in the rough.

However, I will say, that no matter what, I love my family. They are absolutely quirky and every single day is an adventure. I have done more things that I never thought that I would do all because of them. They are awesome and have added so much spice to my life. Yes, you do have my permission to be extremely jealous. For those of you that prefer to become honorary Griners let me know. I will send you out your 8x10 glossy and Certificate of Grinerhood.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Fun Run

Kyra's school held their annual Fun Run today. They had sign ups for both a 5K and a one mile run. Harvey signed up to run with Leigh's son Bryan for the 5K and Kyra for the one mile run. They were run back to back. Harvey was glad to get a work out in and be able to participate in something at the school. He went to the school early with Kyra and the boys and I walked to the school an hour later.

Once we arrived, Kaeson started getting antsy wanting to run, so they signed him up too! He was thrilled beyond belief. They took off with a great racing start as Kelty and I cheered them on from the sidelines. At the last 100 yards, Kaeson started to trail a bit and Kyra booked it on in with her dad. Kaes came in Erin, her girls and Kara. Everyone had a great time.

Tonight, we got a phone call that Kyra took 3rd place out of all the girls in 1st grade. Go Kyra! She is certainly taking after her daddy. Maybe we will see her in the olympics someday. I only feel bad that they announced her name over the intercom and announced her as one of the winners. I had checked her out early to spend some time with family that had come in from out of town.

Go Kyra and Kaeson! This is one area where they definately take after their dad.

Student of the Month...And Just Plain Special

This afternoon I got a phone call from Kyra's first grade teacher telling me that Kyra had been chosen to be the "Student of the Month." This month's theme was Positive Attitude. Well, that certainly describes Kyra to the core. No matter the situation, Kyra always find the positive side of things. I love it. She is a really great example to me of always looking on the bright side.

We decided to take the kids out to dinner. Kyra for her award and Kaeson for graduating from preschool. We went to Mimi's. When our waitress showed up to take our order, Kyra was not shy at all. She piped right up and told our waitress (and everyone the surrounding tables) that we were there because she was student of the month. Not to be outdone, Kaeson's response followed promptly, "And I'm here because I'm...Well, I'm just special." Everyone at the surrounding tables chuckled a bit and thought that they were cute.

I am SOOOO proud of both of my kiddos. They are certainly treasures and I couldn't love them more. Congratulations Kyra and Kaeson.

Grounded for Life

When was the last time you were grounded? Was it 15 years ago, 20 years, 25 years? Have you ever been grounded??? Well, supposedly grounding ends when you turn 18, move out of your parents house and start a life of your own. Well, there a few very select times in life where grounding can come back into play and used as a last resort to a frustrating, reoccurring, annoyance.

Harvey, with all that is on his mind, occasionally takes off to work with a set of car keys in his pocket. Before we bought the van, it was quite the inconvenience. We only have one set of keys to the Honda so, when he would take off with those car keys, I would be sequestered at home until he found a break to come home and bring me the keys.

Since we bought the van, we haven't had that problem considering we were given four keys and three remotes for the car. However, little by little, the sets of keys have been disappearing. Probably into the abyss of the garage or storage room. Nevertheless, they are missing. So, I have been down to my spare....very spare set for the past month or so. Now, I am not sure who has misplaced them. It could be me, it could be Harvey, it could be Toad, it could be some garden gnome. I don't know but, they are on a sabbatical somewhere in the unknown.

Well, today, we were running a few minutes behind schedule. Ok, several minutes behind schedule. I was trying to find pants for Toad, shove cinnamon toast and milk into Kyra's hands and get Kaeson to put on his shoes when I looked to the clock and saw that we only had 6 minutes to get Kyra to school. Plenty of time. So, I went for the car keys and found that they were not in their usual hanging place. After a frantic 3 minute scourge of the house, I called Harvey in a panic wanting to know if he had seen them.

I don't know why I was surprised when he piped up and said that he had them in his pants pocket. He had run an errand last night while using my car and had neglected to hang the keys back up. I hit a 10 on the stress level, hung up the phone and headed out the door to walk Kyra to school. Now, I really shouldn't be complaining, we live two blocks from the school, but I couldn't make that walk with two kids, a stroller and the dog in the now 1 1/2 minutes remaining until the school tardy bell.

Upon my return home, both the boys were crying. Both for different reasons. To boot the dog was gagging from being dragged the whole way home by Kaeson. I was irritated and had to deal with my frustration. So, I called Harvey. He sheepishly answered the call again where I proceeded to tell him that he is now completely grounded from driving my car until he finds two of the three missing sets of keys.

Now, is this harsh? Maybe. Is he the only one at fault for losing the keys? Probably not. Do I feel vindicated? Oh, yeah. Vindicated and a little bit guilty that I came down on him so hard. However, on the up side of anger, I bet you that I will get two of those three sets of keys back within the week.

Sugar and Spice

Good thing he wasn't born a girl. He doesn't look quite as cute in bows as Kyra did.

Remembering the 80's

*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE
For those of you that are in my age category and grew up in the 80's, I thought that you would enjoy this little gem from YouTube. I know. I really should be focusing on cleaning my house instead of finding vidoes on YouTube but I am not gonna. This is the same band that did "Barbie Girl."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz8loLIYc2Q

Wow! Its a Whale!

Poetry by Shel Silverstein - Melinda Mae

Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail.

And everyone said,"You're much too small,"
But that didn't bother Melinda at all,
She took little bites and she chewed very slow,
Just like a little girl should...

...and eighty-nine years later she ate that whale
Because she said she would!!!

So, a couple weeks ago, I so arrogantly piped up to the entire world (ok, the 5 of you who read this blog) that I was going to tackle all of these tasks that have been daunting me for years. I was going to clean out the garage, the storage room, yadda yadda yadda. Well, apparently my bark is bigger than my bite.

Yesterday morning, I woke up energized to start the day and get that darn garage cleaned out. I bought extra garbage bags, pulled out the boom box, put Toad down for a nap and dove into the abyss of my garage. Three and a half hours later, I emerged from the garage sweaty and covered with dirt, spider webs and something ooey and gooey. The only thing that I had to show from it was a garbage can full of junk and a few bags for the DI. I worked my tail end off sorting and tossing and rearranging only to look back into the garage and see that nothing looked any different.

It was at this point that I realized that this task that I thought I would get finished in a day will take a lot lot lot lot longer. I have come up with a plan. Instead of getting it all done in one day like I had originally planned, I am going to have to work on it a couple of hours a day until I get it done. It has become my whale. So, I have decided that I am going to live by the motto that I can't do it all but, I can do something today.

I am going to have to figure out a new and better prize for myself if I get this accomplished. I am willing to share the booty if anyone wants to come and help!

CABO ANYONE????

Melt Your Heart Song

*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*PAUSE*

I absolutely love Jon Schmidt. While I was on my way to drop Kyra off at school this morning, the radio announcer was talking to Jon about his new song. It is a mix of Love Story and Viva la Vida. They played it over the radio and I was hooked. It is currently the second most viewed video on YouTube. I thought that I would share it with you. This is making it to the top of my playlist!

Sunday With the Franco's

We started off our Sunday as most people might.
Our soon to be rebellious son, took his mark as biker baby to show us who was in charge.We were quickly joined by Ninja Boy. His one goal in life is to protect us all from the Green Goblin.His Royal Highness, The Toad spent a good portion of the morning being pushed around the house on a bar chair like a sultan.Then enjoyed a little light shopping with the "Little Mermaid."

The day ended up with a brief display of brute strength by the Griner Cirque de Soleil! Their feet are not touching the fence. They are really holding themselves up on the tetherball pole by their bicepts.

I've Got It Good

With all the craziness that is my life, I have to take a step back sometimes and realize how lucky I am the oldest of 8 children and I love it! I do have a couple of siblings that currently don't live locally, the rest of us get together quite often for dinner, dessert or just playing around.

I am lucky that my children love their grandparents more than they love me. I think it is awesome that my littlest brother picks me up and cracks my back every time I see him. I love that my brothers come by for lunch a couple of times a week and bring their girlfriends by to say hi as well. My dad calls me a couple of times a week to just chat and gives me that best hugs imaginable. My mom makes everyone feel welcome and makes a special effort to make sure that everyone is taken care of.

It is great that when we go out with my family, I can sit back and relax a bit because there are so many people there to play with my kids. I have wonderful brothers that will spend hours playing "hospital" with Kyra, jumping on the tramp with Kaeson and lifting Toad up to make a basket.

Although no family is exactly perfect, I would say that mine is pretty darn close. Yesterday we went to the park as a family. We all had lunch, exchanged war stories (my brother's girlfriend has the best stories that I have ever heard,) played ball, rolled down the hill and ended up throwing pine cones at each other. Even my brother that was dying in pain from a kidney stone made the best of it and was laughing with the rest of us! I just gotta love my family!

Purple Iris

At the risk of being sappy, I am posting this anyway. I got this as an email today and I thought that I would share.

May your troubles be less

Your blessings be more

And nothing but HAPPINESS

Come through your door

There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore....
And who always will....
So, don't worry about people from your past,
There's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

Thats My Boy!

Kaeson Graduates!

It is absolutely astonishing to me to see how fast my children are growing up. In so many ways, I feel like they should still just be toddling around the house with diapers and bottles. Now, I look to see that Kaeson is turning 5 in just a couple of weeks, is giving himself haircuts and is actually doing a decent job at dressing himself.

Last night was another one of those surreal parent moment. We attended Kaeson's graduation from preschool. We made a move to a Montessouri preschool this year and it was a fabulous decision. The teachers were amazingly patient and loving with Kaeson. They looked forward to seeing him every day and would always tell me how well he was doing. That was quite the breath of fresh air for us.

The graduation was held at the park. There was a huge pot luck dinner, games, songs, a pinata. All of the kids had a great time. I enjoyed the evening out with Kristin and her family. Kaeson for some reason, thought that it was his birthday party though. We need to be better on our end of the communication train with that kid.

I loved every minute of that school experience with Kaeson. What a difference a change of schools can make. I will not however, miss the 20 minute drive to and from the school twice a day though. What in the world will I do with that extra hour and a half??????

The Bachelorette

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I don't care a lot for television. When I do take time to watch it, I am rather particular with what I choose to watch. Yesterday, when I realized that a new season of the Bachelorette was about to begin, I was actually kind of excited.

Now, I think that the whole premise of the show is a little bit hokey. I mean seriously, who wants to tell their grandchildren that grandma and grandpa met on a reality TV show where mommy made out with 25 different men. But, I do love the fact that the whole show revolves around the concept of romance. Well, maybe it is romance on some weird, twisted level, but it is romance just the same.

I guess I do have that little hopeless romantic streak that still is alive and well inside of my plain old soccer mom body. Part of me loves escaping reality for just a little while and watch someone else experience those storybook moments of horseback riding on the beach, lunch at a waterfall, helicopter rides over volcanoes, gondola rides in Venice, private yachts, limousines and millions of dollars worth of diamonds on loan. For me, it is a little bit thrilling. In some strange way, it takes me back to when I was a giddy 16 year old and thought that that was what life was like when you grew up. I loved that stuff then, and apparently, I never out grew it.

I really enjoy watching these men throw themselves at her and the lengths that they go to to impress her. I still do get a little jealous that this cute 29 year old has a 24 inch waist, a perfect tan line and can get away with wearing those short shorts. I get a kick out of watching the guys get all macho and puffed up around each other. Also seeing that when they are left alone, they all act like they are 6 years old.

Yes, I know that all of the amazing things that they do are paid for by the network. Yes, I know that the creative dates, ideas and twists are all put together by a panel of people and not planned by the actual men on the show. Yes, I know that the show purposely find the most exciting moments to put on display. However, I love it just the same. It gives me my weekly dose of "aaahhhh."