I was so totally a child of the 80's.

For those of you about to turn 30...here is a walk down memory lane.

I loved loved loved Rainbow Brite. I had the doll...and I think my fourth b-day party was R.B. Ahhhh...the memories.

I loved to watch Zoobilee Zoo when I was small. I specifically remember having the flu in Kindergarten and watching this at home.

Who could resist these cuddly and cute Wuzzles? Everyone loves a Bumbleroo.

Didn't everyone have some action figures with the Thundercats???

Ah...the Snorks. Or Snorkels.

The Shirt Tales was like my very very very favorite show. I loved it.

I confess. I TOTALLY wanted to be She-Ra. Totally.

I'm pretty sure this came on right after Shirt Tales. The Raccoons.

Gummi Bears. I think I had a puzzle too.

Neal was making fun of this show. It's called The Get Along Gang. And I think people now talk about how bad it was for kids, because it taught them to go with the crowd. Whatever...I totally loved it. And it only aired for one season.

And don't forget Pound Puppies, Punky Brewster, and JEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The picture uploader thingy quit working for me...but I totally have a picture of JEM on my computer now. :)

Ah...loved the 80's.

a confession

Before I was a mom...I would look at other kids...and think...

"My kid will never do THAT."
"I will never parent like THAT."
"I will never struggle in this area."

and more specifically...

"My kid will NEVER be late to school."

Well...I confess that the following facts have left me struggling to get it together. To um...keep my cheese on my cracker. :)

Bootie-whipping facts:

1. A house without a mom/wife is not the same a house with one. I am paying for my travels.

2. Sick kids make everything hard. Behavior, cleaning, parenting. All of it.

3. The clock at Addy's school is five minutes fast. Not fast from where I set my clocks at home...but fast from my cell phone clock...which is set by a tower...which I think is probably set by some national atomic clock. So...her schools clock is really off. I know I should have accepted this fact by now...it is March. But I am only now accepting it. And now have a convinced Neal this is true.

4. Five minutes is ALOT when you are driving 9 miles to the next town for school...and then drive through 2 school zones when you get there.

5. The school lunch program has made some policy changes the outcome of "Pete's Pak." Pete's Pak is a sack lunch alternative to the hot lunch. Addy loves to get this when she doesn't want "Beef Noodleroni"...of whatever lovely item the hot lunch might be. A lunch total for hot lunch vs. pete's pak is now taken in the first few minutes of the school day...and if you miss that tally...you don't get a Pete's Pak...which means you have to eat the hot lunch. (Remember...spring break just ended and Addy missed the first two days of this week.) I don't think the school notified parents of the new method for P.P.

And tell that to the big kids who take the P.P. even if they didn't order it! FOR THE LOVE!

And I think that the tally gets taken as the kids come in the room...not actually after the bell has rung. But whatever.

6. Can you imagine the drama of the day when Addy may or may not have (I really don't think we were late! I was supposed to meet my mom that morning at 8...and I did!) not been there for the newly crucial lunch tally on Thursday? I heard about it after school...and just figured it was a mistake...not realizing the new policy. I think before they just made a bunch of P.P's.

7. Addy cried the entire 9 miles to school on Friday afraid we weren't going to make it in time to get her P.P. request in.

8. I had to drag her into school. I had to talk to her teacher with a puffy-red-eyed sniffling girl next to me. Her teacher was pretty nice...but I think was blaming ME for not getting her there on time that day. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

March kicked my bootie...and I'm really struggling. I'm not looking forward to Monday...where I have to pretend that school starts at 7:50 to make sure we are there on time. That's silly. And then...if you are picking up my kid...make sure to arrive at 3:10...not 3:15 like it states in the handbook.

WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm grumpy and I need an attitude adjustment. Sigh...I'm working on it!

Things I learned in California

"That was FUN!" --said by a little girl next to us while I was waiting in the KC airport to head to California. She had just gone through security and was putting on her shoes. I thought, "Me too." I love love love the airport and flying and the lines and the waiting and the layovers and the whole process. I had the biggest dopiest grin on my face while we were standing in the big line to check our baggage. Sally just rolled her eyes at me.

Anyway...reduced to 10...here are some things are learned on my trip.

1. If a magic genie offered me the chance to trade Neal, Addy, and Ellie for a huge beautiful house by the beach with a rich husband...not in a million years would that ever be worth it. Sometimes...the Jones have hard lives. I love my tiny townhouse with my precious family. I am so thankful for Neal.

2. Sally has these amazing friends. Almost all of them have taken a skill...and found a super creative way to use it to bless others. This is something I am missing in my life...and am really mulling over the experience of Sally's baby shower in my mind. How cool to be able to grace someone else. Even the mom with 3 kids was dying her own onsies. Amazing. And for the love...I need a Natasha bag.

3. And on that note...there is nothing like friendship. It enriches life when you share it with others. I knew this...but it doesn't hurt to be reminded.

4. I learned that TIME OUT from the daily grind is soooooooo important. Jill told me I would come back 1000 percent. I did. I'm probably down to about 300 percent now that I have been smacked upside the head with my families illnesses. But still...I don't feel totally drained...and I don't mind doing things for my family. The reserve tank needs some attention some times...you know?

5. I love to read. I knew this of course...but I was reminded. If I had a spare moment...I found a quiet place and read. I need to try harder to read at home.

6. Up until we moved to our townhouse...I really worked hard at putting my "stamp" on our home. I haven't tried so hard here. The girls homes I saw in California were beautiful and fun...and works in progress. I forgot how fun it is to work on your home.

7. It does NO ONE any good to get stressed out about a schedule. Does it Sally? If you are late...you are late. Enjoy the people you are with...enjoy the sun...enjoy the journey. Relax...mostly no one even notices when you get somewhere late. It isn't worth the stress.

8. Mommy-hood is so fun. I really needed a break...and I enjoyed every single moment...but I was also reminded watching all the mommies around me how much I love to be a mommy. It's the best thing ever.

9. I fell in love with Spring. Normally...I could take it or leave it. I really enjoy snow, cold, fall, ect. Eh...spring. But it was so fun to see Spring start early and enjoy the sun and outside. And just the idea of going barefoot and standing in your front door enjoying the breeze...its just nice.

10. I am small. I forget. I forget how small I am...and how big the world is...and how much world there is. I forget how big really big cities are...and how many people there are. That means that God....is really really really really big. :)

visions of Easter

...lovely colored eggs
...beautiful girls in lovely swirly dresses
...children clustered around a calm and sweet mother reminding them of the story of Jesus
...treat filled Easter baskets
...a lovely table filled with many Easter goodies

...and Jayme comes crashing back down to Earth. Not that didn't have a fabulous Easter lunch...cause I did...but also a lot of drama.

Ellie is sooooooooo sick. I had to pry her out of bed to see her Easter basket...which she didn't care at all about...and I couldn't even convince her to eat candy. She was crying loudly about a headache when she threw up all over her Easter Dress. Which left me scrambling to clean up barf (there goes the calm and sweet mother). So Neal (who has bronchitis) and Ellie stayed home from church that morning. Addy and I went to church. Addy however had on shoes that were stiff and didn't fit so she was walking like a goose and is still telling me how embarrassing it was.

But lunch was really good. Better luck next year. :)

(We went to the dr. today and got antibiotics alllll around except me...I seem to be the healthy one.)

and...I'm gone again.

This week is spring break for us...and so my little family is heading off to Dodge City. Not as exotic as Cali...but there are people there who I love very much...so its almost as exciting.

I'm not done talking about my Cali trip and Stuck in the Middle...whew...I'm behind.

Don't give up on me...I'll resume my regular posts soon. :)

Elvis LIVES!

This is a picture of my two favorite elements in Sally's parents world. First, they have this awesome new mantle. They have re-done their house getting ready for it to sell. The new fun mantle is white -- the walls are yellow -- and the black and red candles (which are behind us and you just have to imagine) are just awesome. And then ........ hello .......... Elvis is NOT dead. He lives in Bakersfield. Aren't we fun together? Elvis is so fun. See our hats and his scarf!!!!!! Rock on!

10 Things I am LOVING about California

1. The Beach. Enough said.

2. The vegetation here. Orange trees, eucalyptus trees, olive trees, almond trees, grape vines, carrots, lemon trees, and all other strange and wonderful trees and plants that grow everywhere.

3. Stucco. If I could -- I would have a stucco house. I think its beautiful. However, stucco does not work in Kansas. Apparently Sally was also sad when learning of this truth.

4. Jamba Juice. Enough said.

5. The mountains. The beach AND the mountains. It's like a fairy land.

6. Dewars. It's a candy and ice cream soda place. It is the best food I have had here so far. I had a red and white. Vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries...topped with strawberry ice cream topped with marshmallow. Oh wow.

7. No one really has screen doors here. They just open the front door and stand in the doorway in bare feet enjoying the lovely lovely lovely warm spring breeze and sun streaming in. Isn't that weird...no screen doors!!!!

8. No wind. This means when the sun shines...its nice and comfy warm outside. The freezing jarring wind of Kansas doesn't blow away the warm. I totally sat outside and had lunch in a courtyard on a partly sunny day and it was nice. I didn't have to hold my food down, and wasn't freezing from the wind.

9. This is something I'm sure that just applies to Bakersfield...but its soooo easy to navigate the town. There are lots of wide roads to go east/west and north/south with fewer stoplights...unlike Wichita where you about 3 highways to use (which are always under construction) and the east/west streets are toooo small and crowded and the downtown area is nuts...as well as the east side. It gets all curvy and crazy around Raytheon.

10. It never storms badly here. Now...I would miss the big thunderstorms of the prairie but ... there are no damaging storms here. That's nice. Especially nice for the owner of the 5 million dollar home on the coast.