As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m not really a V-Day person.  I think it’s a manufactured holiday in which florists and restaurants feel justified in jacking up their prices.  

But each of the boys did enjoy buying the little cards for their classmates, so we always do that.  Though, at this point Hayden is the only one that still does it.

We went to Walmart on Saturday and Hayden picked out his cards-Skittles this year.  I think he just wanted to eat the leftovers, but that’s fine.  

Yesterday, he finished up his homework and then started on his cards.  His teacher sent home a class list, and Hayden diligently went to work on his cards.  He wrote people’s names on the little stickers, put smiley faces on them, and then signed his name.  When he completed one, he would cross that person of his little list.

“Mommy, why do I have to give a card to everyone?” 

“Well, isn’t everyone your friend?”  I asked him.

“Well, yeah, but sometimes C (little girl) is mean to me.”

I put my magazine aside, and looked at Hayden, “Oh, she is?  What does she do?”

“Well, sometimes she hits me, and pushes me.  One time when I was trying to sit down, she moved my chair to try to make me fall.”

I tried to stifle a smile, “You know, Hayden, she might like you.”

“What?” Hayden was confused.

“She might like you, and that is why she teases you.”

Hayden thought about this for a minute, “But if she likes me, why is she mean to me?”

Good question.

“Well, she is just a little girl, like you are a little boy.  And she might not know how to tell you she thinks you are handsome, so she picks on you so you will give her attention. Does that make sense?” I brushed his soft brown hair off his forehead and search his eyes.

He shook his head, “I get it.  But if she likes me, she should just tell me.”

My son….so smart.

My shows are pulling out all the stops for Valentine’s Day.  Flowers, Chocolate, Divorce, proposals, heartache, sex…you name it.  And I’m still a sucker for Grey’s Anatomy. One of my favorite couples is Dr. Miranda Bailey and Dr. Ben Warren.  I like that he just gets her…she neurotic, anal retentive, bossy, and is often bouncing off the walls…but he doesnt’ care, he just gets her.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the significant other’s in our lives not being able to read out minds, and yet there are moments, when it seems almost as if Roy can read my mind.  He gets me….He knows me.

He knows I love beautiful things-Michael Kors purses, my beautiful butterfly necklace, but he also knows I hesitate to spend that kind of money on myself.  So he does.

Big deal you say, he can afford to buy me nice things.  Sure, but it’s deeper than that.

He knows I like to take care of myself-someone confronts me, something difficult to do, and yet he always knows when to step in.  He always knows when I’ve had enough, when I can’t take it anymore.

Ok, so he rescues me.  I mess up, and he steps in to fix things.  Yes, but it goes beyond that.

I have a temper.  Little things can set me off, I like to vent when something bothers me.  Roy knows when I need to vent, and when I want him to offer something more.

Wow, he listens when his wife talks.  Sometimes he does, not always, but he does when it counts.

I don’t like to try new things, and if I do, I prefer to plan, and research, and get opinions, and visit websites, and look at forums….Roy is different.  He’s willing to take more chances, and he knows when it’s time for me too.

So, yeah, Roy can’t read my mind…but sometimes…once in awhile…I wonder….

It isn’t often that we all go out to eat as a family.  The older three are usually doing their own thing, so it’s often just Roy, Dean, Hayden and I.  Occasionally, I tell the boys we are going out together, and they all need to attend.

We went out last night to a local pizza place, and then to get some ice cream…EXHAUSTING!  Seriously, exhausting.  They argue, push, fuss at each other, poke, pick, prode and whine-and that’s the older three!

Yes, i swear, it’s the older boys that drive me crazy.  They just can’t get along, and if they do it’s for three or four minutes at best.  Corey can be so bossy sometimes, and if Roy and I are around it drives the other boys nuts.

“Seriously, Corey, shut up.  No one wants to hear it.” Addi is fussing at Corey for something.

“You shut up, before I whack you.” is Corey’s muttered reply.

“Mom and Dad are here.  YOU aren’t the boss.”

I’m sitting next to Roy, exhausted by all this..just listening to them drives me nuts.  And the pizza hasn’t even arrived yet!

“Seriously, both of you.  Quiet.” Dad’s getting that look on his face, and thankfully both boys recognize it and respect it.

But then, five minutes later they are back at it.

We decided, sort of a spur of the moment thing, to sign Dean up for T-Ball.  Little League was holding registration at the pizza joint, and we thought…why not?  He might enjoy it, he might not…but we hope he can make some new friends.

“Seriously, Joe!  Move your legs!”

“Corey, shut up.”

And so it goes…

Ok, we already filed ours.  I admit it, I want to know first thing if we are going to owe anything, and if not, sure I would like my refund.  There is also another reason I prefer to file early-has to do with my ex husband…but wont’ get into that.

Anyways, even though we are lucky and Roy makes a good living, with the five boys, the house and what we try to donate, we usually get something back. 

Again, I know we are lucky that we don’t have to count on our refund to pay bills or get caught up on the mortgage (knock on wood).  We usually look forward to it, and do something fun-last year I got a new dryer!  YEAH!  We give the kids some money so they can get something they really want, Roy will get something he really wants, but views as a luxury-I usually get something pretty I have been drooling over but could never justify.

This year we decided to put a good portion of our refund towards a down payment for another family vacation-yep another trip on the big boat.  

And because I want to lock in my price, I admit..I would like my refund.

BUT, some of these sites are CRAZY! People bad mouthing the IRS, calling 10-20 times a day, etc, etc.

There is a link on the IRS page where you can check on your refund status…if you check it too many times you get locked out.  Not sure how many is too many, but really wow?!

I get it, it sucks waiting, but bad mouthing or yelling at Customer Service reps isn’t going to get you your refund faster.  What’s bad is they usually farm out calls to call centers, and the people there have limited information and are just reading a script.  They are doing a job, for a paycheck, just like everyone else.

I will say it again-if you are due a refund, of course you want it whether you ‘need’ the money or not, but driving yourself crazy over it, will not get it to you any quicker, and will do nothing more than make you crazy….

-Sliding onto cool, crisp sheets on a warm summer night.

-Sliding into a nice, warm bed on a cold winter night.

-Finding that perfect pair of jeans. (I’m short, so I have a tough time, and at this point I wouldn’t even care about the price!)

-Finding that beautiful dress-you know the one that hides what you want to hide, and shows off what you want to show off.

-Hearing your kids laughing, especially when they have been fighting all day!

-That first taste of ice cream on a hot summer day.

-A happy ending to a romantic movie.

-A kiss from your kids.

-A really Good Cup of Coffee-especially if it didn’t cost me $4!

-A kiss from your SO that knocks your socks off.

-Your little ones waving at your, with a big smile on their face, from the school bus.

-Peanut Butter and Bananas. Roy had this the other day when he was really pressed for time, and for some reason it looked good.  So I had it the next morning for breakfast…YUMMY!

-Finding out the tires you need for your car are about 50% LESS than you thought they would be!  YEAH!

-A New episode of your favorite TV show

digidad:

What makes oral surgery so expensive? Our 16yo needs to have his wisdom teeth removed due to a lack of room for them. Fine! Unfortunately, our health insurance does not cover this. Not so fine! So, my wife set out to find an oral surgeon to do the dirty deed. She called around trying to set up a…

What’s even more ‘confusing’ is our dentist said no big deal.  Simple extraction and he can wait until summer or even later in the year if we want to do it over Thanksgiving break or something.  But this guy wants us to schedule right away?  Who do I believe?  The guy that wants our $2500 dollars right NOW, or the dentist with nothing to gain?  I don’t know….

The older boys started their second semester today.  This is Corey’s last semester of high school.  I can’t believe it.  Unfortunately, our silly son put off his foreign language requirement. (To get the advanced diploma, kids can either do a minimum of three terms in one language or two terms of two different languages.) Corey did French in eighth grade, and than switched to Latin in 9th and 10th.  His schedule for his junior year was a mess, and it actually took us about a week to figure something out, but he couldn’t fit a foreign language in.  For some reason, he didn’t want to take Latin 3, so four years later he is taking French 2!  I wonder if he is going to remember anything.  He got straight A’s the first semester, so he is aware that a bad grade in French could affect his GPA.  

Joe is taking Spanish 3, and if all goes well, he will be done with his Foreign Language requirement.  For some reason, Joe has a real problem with his Foreign Language class.  I think he is like me and getting up to speak in front of the class is bad enough, but doing it in Spanish makes him very nervous.  He will also be taking his classroom portion of Driver’s Ed this quarter.  He hasn’t really done any driving since getting his permit, perhaps taking Driver’s Ed will give him the confidence to get behind the wheel.

Addi’s new semester brings a number of changes with it.  No more Science; he moves to History.  Tech is done, and he will be taking an Art class.  And no more Agriculture (which I think he took for the wood working); instead he will be taking PE.  A HUGE part of PE in middle school is simply dressing out and participating.  Addi likes PE, but remembering to bring his uniform is always a challenge for him.  I know he is a bit bummed that he won’t have Tech anymore, as he got along very well with the teacher, and he loves working with computers, but he also likes to draw, so hopefully he will enjoy Art class.  (Lately he has been telling me he wants to be a Tattoo artist part time…)

And Hayden’s school schedule will pretty much stay the same.  His teacher is on maternity leave.  Actually she had the “New Year’s Baby” in our little town!  Hayden got a kick out of seeing her in the newspaper holding her new little boy.  The substitute is actually a retired second grade teacher, and Hayden really seems to like her, though I know he misses his teacher.  I put him on the bus this morning, and he told me that he has Library, so he will get some good books for us to read.

Oh, and today we are taking Joe to the oral surgeon.  He has to get all four of his wisdom teeth pulled.  We’ll see how much damage that is gonna do to the pocketbook!

Lots of changes, should be fun!

Hayden and Dean have just figured out how to add things to their wish list on Amazon.  Dean still needs some work.  He and I put about 10 things in it, and when I looked the other day there were about 150.  I was surprised, so I went to check it out, and he had coffee makers, about 15 packs of coffee capsules… like I said, needs some work.

The other day Dean and Hayden asked if they could look at toys on Amazon.  I said fine and helped them get to the website.  This is what I overheard while cleaning the kitchen.

“Dean!” Hayden fussed at him, “Move over!”

“No.”

“Dean, move!”

“No, I’m the boss.” Dean says.

“You’re not the boss.” Hayden argues.

“Yes. I’m the boss.”

“No, you aren’t!” Hayden was getting annoyed at this point.

“Yes. I’m the boss.”

“You have to be super smart to be the boss.”

“Yes.”

“Ok, what’s 6 times 6?” Hayden asked.

I am not even sure if Hayden knows this just yet - he just started doing multiplication in second grade.

“4.” Dean answered confidently.

“WRONG! See, you’re not the boss.” Hayden sounded triumphant.

“Yes, I’m the boss.” 

Interesting conversation.