Unbelievable

Woke up very early this morning to a text message from NIU that there was a shooting and campus was on lockdown. I could NOT believe it. Again? I have been telling myself for the past 2 years that this would not happen again.

Yes it was an isolated incident stemming from an argument. BUT, it was 2 STUDENTS involved. UNDERGRADS! And one of them had a GUN. Guns do not belong on campus. Should we really have to invest in Kevlar to go to school?

The threatmantic note *UPDATED*

If you watch The Fairly Oddparents you probably know what I mean by threatmantic. It's sort of a threatening love letter. This weekend I received one from Abby.

Josh and I have put a stop to the kids spending any allowance on toys until after Christmas. For the most part it hasn't been an issue, but this weekend we were out shopping and Abby wanted to add a stuffed cat to her already large kitty collection. I believe she has 14 of them. We told her she could not get the kitty and she was really quite pathetic about it. I have to admit, I almost caved. (Yes my daughter totally has me wrapped around her little finger). So then, I received this letter:



It's hard to see but basically it's a drawing of captive kitties and a devlish Abby saying that she'll be mean if she doesn't get a kitty. Oh my.

The drawing totally reminds me of Max from the book Where The Wild Things Are.




Naturally we had a discussion about threatmantic letters (although I didn't use that term) and how not nice they are. And as soon as Abby left the room after said discussion, Josh and I burst into laughter. I have to say I'm quite proud of her spelling...it's at least phonetically correct.

Thank you to Gina (who I went to high school with)for this clearer picture:

Is it ladylike?

During dinner we were having some issues with the kid and using nice manners. Mostly Abby. So I told her "That's not very ladylike". Out of the blue she says to Evan and I "Stabbing is ladylike though". Umm.... Which of course prompted me to say, "No stabbing is not ladylike". I'm going to chalk that one up to too much vide game playing with her older brother.

Things I am tired of saying, but use on a daily basis.

When you have children, you find yourselves not only saying odd things that you thought you'd never have to say but repeating the same directions over and over. For instance:

*You need to stop
*That's a 1
*We don't hit our brother
*Arms (of couches) are for our arms, not our bottoms.
*Did you brush your teeth? ::pause:: today?
*Don't talk just to hear yourself talk.
*Whose wrapper is this?
*What do we do with our dishes when we are done eating?
*....and why am I paying you allowance?
*Clean up your noodle mess
*Please stop talking to your imaginary friends and get ready to go.
*Because I said so.
*Do you know why you had to sit in the naughty chair?
*No
*Soon
*We'll see (as in I don't really want to say "no" at this time because you'll flip out, but I have no intention of saying yes).

Eeek!

Today when I was picking up Abby from school, we saw a mouse run across the road. I'm scared of mice...very scared.

Me: EEK, A MOUSE! EEEEEK, A MOUSE!
Abby: Stop eeking Mommy
Me: But there's a mouse!
Abby:But if you eek, it will drive me nuts.
Me: It will drive you nuts?
Abby: Yep, I'll have to drive around with nuts...on my head.

The things we say

There are many things about parenthood that surprise me. Most of all are the things I wind up saying. Things I never thought I'd say. Such as:
1. Don't bite the dog.
2. Don't put your sister in the dog's crate.
3. You can't wear your princess dress to the park.

The dog

Son: Why is the dog locked outside on the porch?
Husband looks at daughter
Daughter:(with a guilty look on her face) I love you Dad.


Yep, you guessed it. She locked the dog outside.