Really? Only a 17 month long hiatus!

May 2011...only over a year since my last post. My excuse? I have many. Let me see...

#1--my life has been so jam packed with story time, ABC time, heavy duty cleaning, organizing and organizing, meal planning, trying to save the world, martial art training, scholar and intellectual growth, family bonding...you name it.

As if you didn't know already...I am super mom. Although, super mom takes on a whole new meaning in the Kinley house. The other day I asked a friend if I was a "planner"? In my mind, I thought "of course! I always plan to wake up earlier, plan to workout--tomorrow, plan to finally break Kenny's use of the pacifier at night, plan to finally post another eventful and productive day on my blog..." but to my surprise an immediate and shocking "NO!!!" quickly spurted out of my friends mouth.

Okay. So I know this is shocking to you all to hear this about me. I was shocked too! I mean really? I thought I was the mom who had everything planned! Well, I soon realized (3 seconds later) she was right. Is this a good or bad thing? I have always admired people that showed up early for things, kept a schedule, used a label maker (for heaven sakes!), had bins for everything, and whose house always smelled of lysol upon entering. Unfortunately, God did not bless me with this attribute. So, unfortunately, this thorn in my side filtered into my blogging ability and I am on a mission to PROVE that there is no thorn on this rose stem when it comes to being a planner. I have turned over a new leaf----or cut off all the thorns (you pick). First step to this transformation? DA DA DAAAAA.....No cable.

What was I thinking? No more Real Housewives? What about American Idol? I can stream it through the computer! Fantastic! Now, how am I going to watch my episodes through the internet after I have made all my other fantastic plans for the day? Solution! Get a laptop!!! Kaaaaacchhhiiiinnng! I can sneak into the closet and secretly get my fix for the day when Dusty isn't looking! He is not an enabler and is trying to be a good support in my quest to becoming the next Martha Stewart/Betty Crocker/June Cleaver.

So I thought I would pay homage to the loss of cable in my first post this past year. It is a tragic loss and one that needs recognition. I thought that I could possibly make the day I lost cable as a national holiday, but that takes a LOT of planning and persistence when trying to establish a new recognized holiday....and planning is just not my cup of tea...not yet anyways.

#2 reason for the lack of blogging contact with the rest of the world: I have 2 rugrats. I call them Miss Noodle and Mr. Meatball.

Miss Noodle is a rambunctous (spelling? another thorn...oh wait, there is spell check) rambunctious little 3 year old that cracks me up...most of the time. In between the whining and temper tantrums...no she is an angel. Never in trouble, always polite and well mannered, eats her veggies and never asks to go to McDonalds...NEVER! My kid? She does tell me I am beautiful everyday so I have trained her well thus far! She's a lover of the mcnuggets, park escapades and bedtime stories...especially in mom and dad's bed. And she has perfected the stealth move into the parent's bedroom at 3 am quite well. She is also a lover of her Hello Kitty big girl panties! Not the 15 other polka dot and kitty cat ones that look identical to her Hello Kitty ones...sheesh. Emphasizing big girl panties...yes, a 3 year old POTTY TRAINED girl! No more pink princess pullups (except at night, when I don't forget). Yes, I learned I must never forget a pullup at night...the hard way. I have to say that I never get tired of hearing "I luv you more than chocolate Mommy!!" That must be a lot! I find it funny to see Kennedy aka Miss Noodle, bossing Mr. Meatball around all day long. He just rolls with the flow...like a meatball would. They are never separated...like good spaghetti. I am getting hungry. Yes, motherhood has made my thoughts even more random, so hopefully you can follow this scattered brain of mine---or what is left of it anyways.

So onto Mr. Meatball....what a silly guy he is! So different from Miss Noodle! Unlike Kennedy who is very strongwilled and bossy, affectionate and determined...Meatball is a character! I can't wait to hear what is really going on in that head of his! He is constantly bumping into things, taunting his sister, acts like he doesn't hear you or is oblivious at times. He is laid back, but at the same time stubborn when it comes to being told to sit still for longer than 5 seconds. He is always on the go (constantly) and unlike his sister, who can sleep through a freight train collision, he wakes up at the sound of a whisper! I have to throw out a huge warning to all the fathers out there though about this Mr. Meatball. This is important, so pass on this information to anyone that has a daughter. He is a serial Kissing Bandit. Yes, it is scary, but I assure you, he is harmless. Today I told him to give his daycare lady a kiss goodbye. So off he trots/runs over to Miss Erika and after standing and waiting (patiently) for all of 5 seconds, he turns to the bear statue next to him and starts landing a wet kiss on his rubber nose. I did alert you all to the danger of this Mr. Meatball/Kissing bandit that is residing in tacoma washington. Don't say I didn't warn you!

As for me...I know you are dying to hear what else is going on in this head of mine. I have come to the conclusion that I must have ADD, and not just a mild case, but full blown. I mentioned to Dusty that I think I could possibly, just maybe, have 1 or 2 signs of ADD, perhaps. Awaiting complete shock and disbelief in my diagnosis he says, "I could have told you that a LONG time ago!" Oh really Mr. Know-It-All? If you were so smart, how come I had to tell you this? He then proceeded to inform me that when I clean, I always start in one corner or room and never seem to get it finished! Ha! YOU do the cleaning then!

So, the next day, I decided to prove him wrong. I cleaned the WHOLE house! Top to bottom...can't you just smell the Lysol aroma??? Yes, he was impressed. Especially when he found the crumpled up paper in the trash with a list of all the things I need to clean. Clean kitchen floor, wipe counters,bathroom break, unload dishes, make dinner, fold laundry, load dishes, wash hands, clean up dinner, feed kids (yes, feed the children), bathroom break, bathtime, brush teeth, floss (plan to floss tomorrow), bedtime story, kids---out...with check marks beside them all. I didn't want to forget anything right? It is only a MILD, yet SLIGHT form of ADD. The list was only to keep me on track. I had to figure out whether or not my diagnosis was correct. List making, just the important things that people need to be reminded of (not the everyday things that people just do because it is second nature) is essential to a good planner, and I have that down for sure so maybe this isn't ADD. Either way, maybe I should just invest in some post-its.

So, back to me...life couldn't be better. I plan to post more. PLAN is the key word here, but next time I will include some pics. A year's worth of them!