At the same birthday party last weekend, my preschooler also received a little stamper. It was a circle shaped stamp that was orange in color. Yesterday, while we were running errands in the car, he decided he needed to stamp his arms, hands, legs and forehead. If that's not enough, he needed to also stamp his baby brother who was in the carseat next to him as well...all over too. It was a kodak moment (but I didn't have my camera.) He was so proud of himself.

Magic Jelly Beans~

Scott was invited to his first kid birthday party of someone he knows as a friend (someone from his pre k class.) He received a little thing of jelly beans shaped like a fish. On the way home, he discussed throwing them in the yard. I asked him why he'd do that, and he explained. He wanted to throw them in the yard and after he went to sleep, they'd grow into a beanstalk and go up into the sky.

Smiling, I reassured him that he could do that and that it was ok. He did...Fortunately, he didn't go outside the next morning and check to see if there were a beanstalk! Whew!

I just love childhood.

It's interesting...there are some things I've never done and aren't sure why.

For instance, I have a friend whom I never visit. I met her when I was 13 and we've lived within 10 miles from each other all of this time. She and my brother dated once and we started talking. We've followed each other's lives for about 30 years via phone (and email in the last few years.) It works for us and we've had a great friendship this way. I saw her once when I was 13, again in a library the same year (didn't realize it was her until later) and then again at her father's funeral several months ago. Thanks for being my friend, Pam.

Also, I haven't eaten at my brother's home (until tonight.) He has lived across from me for many years (and eats at my home all the time.) I'm not sure why, but the fact that he just started cooking probably has something to do with it. I enjoyed the chicken and dumplings, Mike. Thank you.

Years ago, I mentioned something about skydiving. For my birthday, my husband bought me two tickets to go skydiving. I procrastinated and procrastinated as I am quite the acrophobic. I just couldn't bring myself to throw myself out of a plane. Eventually, after a year, the tickets expired and I never went. I now choose not to mention this to my husband as I hope he has forgotten that his thoughtful gift went unused and was wasted. I probably could have done it if I had worked on my fear throughout the year...but I'm not sure why I didn't.

Finally, I love wearing socks. Around the house, I always take off my shoes and walk around in socks, usually nice fluffy white ones. I wear them until they are no longer white and have holes...then I throw them away and buy more while doing the same thing, over and over. I even sleep in socks. I have no idea why.

Yesterday, my husband dropped something in the kitchen and said uh-oh! My preschooler immediately sang, "Der Kommissar is in town." That's what happens when he listens to '80s music with my husband, lol! Today, he was singing, "I love rock and roll...put another dime in the judebox, baby." His all time favorite is, "I hate myself for loving you..."

Last week, when we returned from evacuating, my preschooler started sleeping in his own room at night. He just went in there (probably because he wanted to watch his dvd on his portable dvd player, which we allow sometimes.) I'm not sure why, but we just ...went with it. He sleeps in his own room during his naptime. But for almost three years now, he has been sharing the bed with us. His departure was unexpected and we weren't weaned, so to speak. I miss him at night with us. It's nice to have more room in our bed, but sad nonetheless. He's growing up...

My youngest brother is getting married next month. I haven't been to a wedding of a sibling yet. This brother was previously married but for only a couple of years and his wife wanted out (she found someone else.) I figure that it ended because they didn't invite the family and, in particular, me. It was a quick wedding because he was being deployed. This time, our family (and extended family) received an invitation and I have already bought my ticket to fly out to San Diego (for me and my baby.) It would have been nice if it were convenient for all of us to go witness such a celebration, but it was not to be.

When I think of this upcoming wedding, I smile. I love seeing people plan and enter into these lifetime arrangements called weddings. They plan the details (flowers, food, photography and music) and look forward to honeymoons. My brother and his fiance are going through premarital counseling. I think that is a very wise decision as many things aren't discussed until they come up. I've had friends who went through the same thing and weren't disappointed. I like feeling happy that his whole life is ahead of him. The joy of being married, having children, becoming mature with his spouse, and growing old together. My husband and I haven't really fought over anything significant in many many years. Occasionally, we disagree over very minor things, but overall, we've grown very mature with each other and have learned great techniques to get along. Marriage isn't easy, it's a work in progress with both parties doing their best to make the other one happy. I hope my brother's marriage goes as smoothly as mine has.

When you live in an area where hurricanes are prevalent, you cross your fingers that they go somewhere else. We evacuated recently from Hurricane Gustov (our city was one that had a mandatory evacuation.)While I had many of my important documents still together from the last evacuation a few years ago, I made a list of the things I thought were important and needed to be packed. It's interesting how you have to choose those things based on how much room you have in your vehicle. While I love taking pictures, I didn't have room for my photo albums. But then, pictures don't seem as important when you consider having to leave to protect your family, real people. Lo and behold, my daughter showed up the morning on the day we evacuated. I woke up to find her asleep in her car outside in the yard. She made it back home and we took her along with us. We also took our preschooler's bicycle (his favorite possession), my husband's golf clubs, my other daughter's cellphone and ipod and my baby's pack-and-play. We needed a place for him to sleep as naps are very important to him. For me, I grabbed a box of genealogy information and baby books from my children as well as my siblings. As long as we were all together as a family, nothing else seemed very important. We were safe and far away from the impending storm.