It's my thang. It's what I do.

When the hub is out of town, I tend to post more. If I have to suffer, so should you.

Today was nuts. A couple of my friends came over and stayed for three hours! I can't remember the last time I did that much bonding. Then, a mad dash to see Jackson sing " and the green grass grew all around and around...( love that song), after which we played at the park, ran to piano lessons, traded Jackson for Isaac a half hour later, ran to hockey practice, ran to scouts for the boys and for me to substitute in bears, and finally dragged my kids to dinner and then home. It's nine and my heart rate is still up.

While I was " bonding with the girls" and waiting for hockey practice to wrap up as well, I ended up on the listening end of a few conversations revolving around difficult children with behavioral problems. Both are amazing mothers, and try again and again to help their children. I could only nod and show some sympathy, but for the most part, I don't have a clue what it's like to have a difficult child. My kids have good days and bad, but on the whole, are easy to raise and easy to be around. They make me so happy. While I was in Spain, I loved it, but I must admit, sometimes I missed them so much it hurt. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall, but so far, so good.

In between all the running, I had some very entertaining conversations with my own children as well.
Corbin wants to have a candy eating contest for his birthday party ( that'll fly with the parents, don't ya think?) and a pinata shaped like a gun (maybe an NRA party theme?). "Can you do that for me, Mom?" For you? Anything.

Brody loves to point out letters on signs that are also found in his name. As I spoke to one of the random moms I found at the park, Brody butted in every two seconds to announce that the sign had an "S" and "s's go sssssss!" and " That's a Beeeeeee! Did you see the two humps?" Well, thanks there, buddy, I did see the humps! "Thanks, Mom". If you know this kid, you can vouch for his frequent and sincere thank-you's. No matter how random.

At the restaurant, Isaac was so excited to hand over a dime as a tip ( it was fast food) to the cashier and let him know how grateful he was for his service. The cashier got a chuckle out of my strange child. He pointed out that when he came to the place recently with his friend, the cashier gave him a break because he was a quarter short. Isaac just wanted to give back. ( a dime, though?) He polished off his intense three days of health lessons with a lovely video about AIDS in which men dressed as cells told the story of immune deficiency. Apparently some cells are evil and treat other cells poorly. He didn't know weather to laugh at the childish "cell" costumes, or discuss the sadness of the horrible disease. It must be so strange to be an 11 year old boy. What goes through their heads, really? Poor tweeners. He's handling this awkward stage like a champ.

Jackson was so adorable at his concert today. He looks around concerned that I might not make it. It breaks my heart to see his searching eyes, until finally I get his attention, and he twists his face into the weird frowny smile. He doesn't want to blatantly smile. That would be soooo uncool. He may not be able to let his smiles hang out, but he sure sang with gusto. He stamped his feet and pulled bug faces with such glee! I loved it. This sappy mom may have even blinked back a few tears (because meeting a bear face to face and singing a song about it is the most touching thing I ever heard of).

This parenting stuff is no joke. The kids literally fought tonight over who got to talk to me first. How lucky am I? They all had funny stories about school and their little life experiences. I love them so much. They are my whole world. ( well, them and their father, whom I can't wait to see come home tomorrow!)