Next Up - Thomas Key

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Now, on to another child of mine. Tonight I think I'll talk about the oldest, Mr. Thomas Key. Key is now an eight year old third grader, which seems impossible. But, on the other hand, I can't really remember life without him, either. Robbie and I had been married for almost nine years when we became parents, through the modern miracle of IVF (in vitro fertilization). We are eternally grateful for the miracle that Key truly is to us.

Key has always been an easy child. For the first year or so of his life he slept approximately 23.5 hours a day. He was like one of those baby dolls that close their eyes when you lay them down. If you ever needed a break all you'd have to do is lay him down. He'd close his eyes and nap for hours. I went from working full time to staring at a sleeping baby full time. I've actually never slept so much in my life as I did when Key was an infant. I didn't really understand that this wasn't normal at the time. (Andy changed all that, don't be too mad at me.)

Key is always on the look out for the big payday. He always has a money angle on his ideas and plans. He can instantly think up a really good reason for his brother or sister to part with their money, and give it to him. He is quite convincing, and usually takes their allowance, until we inquire and make him give it back. He sets up stores and sells his wares all the time. He behaves at school so that he'll earn 'Gator bucks' and then buys things he knows Andy or Nat will like so he can convert the Gator bucks into cold, hard cash. In short, the boy could sell ice to an Eskimo!

Which leads to the dilemma of school. School takes up way too much of Key's day. How is he supposed to be out there earning a living while he is trapped at school? He is convinced he could make it on his own right here, right now. If only his parents didn't insist on wasting his time at school.

He heard about stocks and asked us a million questions about how they work. He asked if he bought some shares of Walmart, thus becoming part owner, if they would give him a discount.

We feel that Key has sufficient motivation to either be a multi-millionaire by the time he reaches age 25 - OR - he'll be in jail! Our goal in life, for Key, is to steer him in the right way to make a buck.

Key is also loathe to spend his own money, of which he has a lot. He has a lot because he rarely ever parts with any of it. In fact, he hounded me until I took him to the local bank and opened a savings account in his name. He funnels every dime into that account and then claims, in the middle of Walmart, that he has no money on him and asks if we can spot him. Knowing full well he won't ever pay you back!

Key is also a gadget man. He craves the latest and greatest the world has to offer electronically. He owns a Nintendo DSI-XL, a Wii and a spy watch. Oh, and with his Toys R Us gift card he bought a Paper Jamz electric guitar. (I had to spot him the money for the neck strap. I'll never see that $6 again!) For Christmas this year he begged for an iPhone. No, not kidding, he wanted an iPhone. He did not receive one, much to his dismay. He is still relentlessly begging for one though. (Not happening!)

Key is also a talented artist. From the earliest time he could pick up a crayon, he has impressed us with his ability to draw. We've rarely seen one of his drawings and asked, "What's that?" He's been featured in the local paper and enjoys after school art lessons.

One plan for his future career is to be a Navy pilot. He chose this profession because the Navy will feed you, house you and provide you clothes to wear. Due to his inability to spend his own money, he feels this will suit him well.

Key is quick to say 'Thank You'. He is always the one to mention how grateful he is to us for taking him somewhere, or buying him something.

We couldn't be more grateful for such a wonderful son!! Bubby, we sure do love you!!!

50 Random Facts About Me

My mind has raced in a thousand different directions lately, as has my body, so I haven't finished writing about the boys yet. I saw another blog with 50 random facts and thought that I could at least garner enough brain power to do that.



1) I don't like snow. It is supposed to start snowing tomorrow. I dread it.

2) I could not have found a better job than the one I have now as a part-time Arborist. I love what I do.

3) The more I ask around, the more convinced I am that I'm a speed reader. How do you know if you qualify?

4) I only have a few dear friends. I'd go to the mat for them. They keep me sane. I probably drive them crazy.

5) I would love to travel more. I'd even go to cold climates if I knew I wouldn't have to stay long.

6) If I can't be on time, I'd rather not go.

7) An organized home is extremely important to me.

8) When I am stressed, I clean. My house is spotless right now.

9) I can ride a unicycle. We live on a hill so I don't ride much right now. I rode a good bit in FL.

10) I love, love, love my front loading washer and dryer.

11) I love taking pictures and wish I were a better photographer.

12) I'd eat Mexican food for every meal if I could.

13) Well, I'd also have to throw in some Puerto Rican mofongo every once in a while too. That stuff is delicious! If you've never tried it you don't know what you are missing!

14) I wish I could wear flip flops every day of the year.

15) I need a haircut.

16) I hate the sound of non-residential toilets and flush with my foot so I can have my fingers in my ears.

17) I do not like dark chocolate.

18) I don't own any make-up, and haven't in over 15 years.

19) I don't like cows, they scare me. I have cow nightmares.

20) I drive a minivan but I can't wait to get rid of it once the kids get older. It's not a swagger wagon to me.

21) I'm discovering how far I am willing to go with my 'less is more' idea. It's getting extreme!

22) I think I need more sleep than the average person. I never get it, though.

23) I'd like to think I could hike the Appalachain Trail, but I bet I'd give up early on.

24) I keep journals for each of my kids to record the funny things they've said. I treasure them!

25) I've come to appreciate the violin by sitting in weekly lessons with my son.

26) I don't like dogs. Any dogs. I used to love them all. Then I got our dog. She turned me against the entire canine species.

27) I am even beginning to wonder if cats are worth all the effort I put into them. I do still love a cat though.

28) I still hope to learn Spanish one day.

29) I love palms.

30) I don't enjoy being in large crowds.

31) Heights scare me now. I used to not mind them so much.

32) My favorite color is sunny yellow.

33) I wish my legs weren't quite so long. I'd have a lot more choices in pants if this were so.

34) I wish I had the patience to homeschool my children.

35) I'm glad I don't bite my fingernails anymore.

36) One of my favorite authors is Rick Bragg. I've read everything I can find by him. I wish he would write more!

37) I don't enjoy talking on the phone.

38) I love to quilt. So many patterns, so little time.

39) I wish I didn't have chronic neck and back pain.

40) I hope we can get a swimming pool at our next house.

41) I drive way too fast.

42) Bonaire is my favorite island so far. I can't wait to check out more.

43) I love talk radio.

44) I think one of the smartest people on the planet is Thomas Sowell. I am so sad he is in his 80's. He has so much common sense that the world needs to hear. I look forward to every one of his columns.

45) I'll be glad when my children are too old for Candy Land. Ack.

46) I love sparkling grape juice that is always available at the holidays. I'm regretting I didn't stock up.

47) I enjoy helping out in my children's classrooms.

48) I am a terrible at ironing.

49) I have no pain tolerance.

50) I love listing things for sale on CraigsList and Ebay. (See #21)

My Daughter

I've been meaning to do this for a while now. I would like to end the year with descriptions of each of the kids. You are welcome to learn more about them, and I hope you enjoy a more in depth knowledge of each, but this is mostly for documenting them at the end of 2010. I hope they will enjoy looking back one day to this point in time.

I'm starting with my youngest, Miss Natalie. She is five and a half years old and some days I still wake up and am surprised to realize that I have a daughter. After having two boys, I still find it amazing that she is mine. And she is night and day different than her brothers, that is for certain. She came into this world with a clear vision of who she is, and what was acceptable to her. There is little grey in her world, black and white seems to sum up how her opinions are split. Her pointer finger wags at us daily as a reminder of her decisiveness.

She is random, if you can even say that after saying she is decisive. Random as in, say, nailing jello to a tree. You just can't pigeon hole her. I get the feeling that if she were asked the same question, by ten different people, she would give ten different answers. And I wouldn't have been able to have guessed any of them. When I am asked questions about her, I really have to think, and I am never certain that what I say will be right. I try to defer to her and let her speak for herself, whoever that is on a particular day. The decisiveness comes in her answer. For whatever she says, she is absolutely sure of it.

She is particular about her 'look'. She knows how her hair should be styled and will know it is right only when the last brush of the morning is pulled through. She also knows what she should wear to school and who will like it and who will make fun of her if she is forced to wear it and who she will look better than and who she will not look as good as. She is keenly aware of fashion and how it influences her day. This is new to our house because none of the rest of us have any where near this kind of perception.

She doesn't care if she is smart. She is, quite frankly, in many ways an airhead. Flighty, even. She doesn't aim to please in academia. It is okay with her if she doesn't know all of her letters and it concerns her not that her teacher knows it. She is much more concerned that her classmates like her and that she can get a tray lunch instead of carrying a lunch box. She prefers to just 'chit chat' instead of listen. Her track to the water fountain in class is long and winding. Her teacher has banned her from getting water. Her goal in life is to stay on the green card and not get knocked down to yellow, but only because that means she will have to sit on her bed. If there were no consequences at home she'd be fine with living on the yellow card.

She is hilarious. She can describe the most crazy events in her day and have us in stitches. She says off the wall things regularly. People she barely knows come up to us and say, "I just have to share what your daughter just told me....." This scares me and her dad every single time. Because we can't even begin to guess what we are about to hear. Once she told her Sunday school teacher that she and her family lived at Wal-Mart with Jesus. See? Could that be any more random?

She loves cats, which she gets honestly, because her mother is also a cat lover. She carries them like babies, or slung over a shoulder. She pesters them until they hide. She talks to them like they are people, almost as if she thinks they might answer her back. The only thing she doesn't allow is for them to sleep with her, lest they step on her eyeballs.

She is way more domestic than her brothers. She can make her bed well, even though her bed has two pillows and theirs only have one. She gets out her own clothes and dresses herself much better than them. She is the first one up every morning and wants to be in the shower first too. She knows that if she gets in first she can pick a song to listen to on the way to school. Right now her favorite is "Lips are Sealed" by the Go Go's.

She thinks she can sing. She tries to sing every song as an opera singer would. She closes her eyes and wavers her voice. Sometimes it works (hymns), sometimes it doesn't (Beach Boys). She practices singing and takes it very seriously. If asked what she does well, she mentions singing.

She is a cuddle bug at the end of the day. She wants someone to scratch her back and she wants dad to sing "Hush Little Baby" while lying in bed each night. Dad is good about that because he knows it is important to her. She and dad have a special bond. She goes to him first if he is home. She passes my side of the bed and goes around to his side when she comes in our room, usually too early for either of us. He can calm her better than I can. He can reason with her better than me, too. I think she and I are just a tad too much alike, actually. Like matching magnets, we repel.

But I love that little girl to the moon and back, and I know she loves me just as much. So we deal with the 5:45am, Saturday wake ups because no matter how many times we ask her not to do it, we know we are wasting our breath. She will be there. And that is a good thing.

So. Natalie Caroline, we love you so much!!! Even though we never use the name Natalie or Caroline. You will always be our Missy.

What Happened to TV?

I can't even believe I am typing this. I don't watch TV anymore. How did this happen? Because I'm not boycotting TV, I just can't find anything to watch. We still have cable, but I am not sure why. I guess because the kids like the Disney Channel. I even called to cancel Dish last week but we are under contract until October. Unless something drastic happens we are done with cable TV in October. Rabbit ears, here we come. Can you even attach rabbit ears to a flat screen?

I am amazed that you can flip through 100+ channels of NOTHING. Have I changed or is it TV programming? I've always been able to find something to watch. Now? The only thing we watch as a family is America's Funniest Videos on Sunday evening. If it weren't for that show (and the fact that we watch it as a family) I wouldn't turn the TV on. I do not like reality TV. I don't care if you can sing, dance, survive on a deserted island or get along with a bunch of crazy people trapped in a house. I don't want to know about the drama of housewives all over the country. I would go on but I am too clueless to even know what else is out there not to like!

Just this week both grandma's called to say there was a tornado headed our way. They knew our TV wouldn't be on so they wanted us to be safe. We turned it on and got a two minute update til the dish went out. So even in an emergency the TV was not useful.

I have watched the Clemson Tigers play football a few times this season. But I find that I can't even sit still long enough to watch TV anymore. Even if I am interested I just have more important things to do than sit on the couch and stare at the TV. I'm just not used to it anymore. Commercials are especially irritating and loud. I get sensory overload about ten minutes in.

I've even banned TV for the kids Mon-Thurs. I thought there would be major fits over the new rule. Only for a day or two. Now they don't even ask. I think that is awesome! They read more now, play outside more often, and play the Wii. At least the Wii keeps them active. I think by October they'll be ready to go cold turkey.

Do you watch TV?

Thank You Shutterfly

If you know me, you know I love Christmas cards! My cards always have a picture of the kids on it. ALWAYS! So, when Shutterfly offered to send me the first 50 free I jumped at the chance. It took me forever to find the perfect card because there are tons of great ones to choose from. But again, if you know me, my favorite place to be is the beach. Most of my past cards have beach pictures on them. Key riding a radio flyer down a snow white sand hill, Key and Andy in red trunks with red buckets full of sand, etc. I tried to get Robbie to make us a sand snowman and he said it couldn't be done. Now that I've actually seen one I realized he was just being lazy!!! Maybe this summer... Anyway, as I was saying, I found the perfect card for us. Because a perfect Christmas would be a tropical one.

Christmas Photo Cards: Photo Christmas Cards & Personalized Christmas Cards Shutterfly

Check out the dozens of different designs. I know you'll find one pefect for you.

And if you have already decided upon your cards and have them in the mail I'll try not to be jealous. You might want to check out Shutterfly's great selection of birthday invitations: Birthday Cards and Birthday Photo Cards, Birthday Party Cards, Birthday Note Cards Shutterfly

And don't forget to order your 2011 calendars. If you add great pictures of the kids the grandparents would love to get one for Christmas!

Photo Calendars & Custom Wall Calendars, Personalized Desk Calendars Shutterfly They are super easy to customize. You can add all of your own events so you'll never forget a birthday.

Merry Christmas friends!!!

In the News

So cruise ships are in the news again. Usually they make the front page due to a rotovirus or a norovirus. This time, fire in the engine room. My sister, who lives in California, was on a cruise this past week. Thankfully, not the disabled ship though. She sailed out of Florida.

I've been on a cruise. It was my first, last and only. I cruised with some friends, who discovered just what a stick in the mud I really am. They were great, and had lots of fun. Me? Not so much. Cruising is, most decidedly, NOT for me.

We went on a cheap cruise, for just four days (thankfully!). Maybe that was it? But it was awful, just awful. First of all, the whole ship's decor was tacky. Swirling red and purple designs on all the carpet. Carpet that didn't just cover the floor but all the walls too. It was enough to make you sick in dry dock, much less out on the open seas.

Our room was approximately 3 feet wide by 5 feet long. Three of us shared this room. I included the bathroom in the above measurements. I'd never seen a combo sink/shower/toilet until I arrived. I slept (fitfully) on the top bunk. And when I wanted to roll over, I climbed out and flipped over and then slid back into place. My suitcase was at the bottom of my bed so my legs could never fully extend. Lovely. One good thing about our room though, was that we had a tiny window to let in some light. The rooms across the hall looked like caves and I am seriously not sure I would have survived in one of those. If we paid extra for that window it was money well spent!

Most of our time on board was spent waiting. We waited in the hall to get to the elevator. We waited outside the elevator to get on it. We waited on another floor to eat. We waited to disembark. We waited to get back on the ship. And every single cough I heard or railing I touched screamed ROTOVIRUS.

Because there were SO MANY people on this ship. A virus smorgasbord - no wonder you hear so much about this on cruise ships! I can only describe it like this: think of Black Friday at the mall, about 10am. Then, imagine someone locking the doors and sending the mall out to sea. That is what if felt like on that ship. People were everywhere!

Things to do on the ship were limited if you are a stick in the mud. The main activity was drinking large quantities of alcohol. I don't drink. It helped if you smoked and gambled too. Neither for me, thankyouverymuch. Oh, if you were a soccer fan you could watch it on TV, but you'd have to know Spanish to understand the announcers. In fact, I didn't find any English speaking channels at all. I felt very disconnected on board. No current news was available unless you paid some crazy amount of money per MINUTE to get online. I decided to remain uninformed of current events.

One day I signed up for an excursion. I decided to go feed the sting rays. I am a diver and had seen pictures of a place called Sting Ray City where you go out and swim among them and feed them bread and are able to pet them in the wild. I was really excited. Well, let me tell ya, this wasn't even close! The excursion was to start at 11:30am. I got up bright and early so I could get some shopping done in town before I joined my group. When I opened the room door I realized I was trapped. Hordes of people jamming the hall, waiting for an elevator to get off the ship. Uggh! I barely made it off in time to get to my excursion. Seriously! And what took so long to get off the boat? We were all forced to have our pictures taken with a fake parrot sitting on our shoulders! I am NOT KIDDING.

Then we took a small boat over to Carnival's private island. We were fenced in on a small portion of the island. The sting rays were fenced in as well. We were required to wear old life jackets and stood in waist deep water while the trained sting rays swam in a line past us, grabbing pieces of fish from our hands. Not the brush with nature I had envisioned. Then it was lunch time. I ate a $6 hot dog. Then I sat on the beach until it was time to go back to the ship.

The next day was our 'free day at sea', which basically meant - we have no plans to stop anywhere and you are completely at our mercy. I ran around their jogging track until I just couldn't take it anymore. Then I showered and headed to breakfast. There were 100 tables open. But you couldn't sit at those. You had to sit with the other folks who came down at the same time you did. So, here I am at a table with a honeymoon couple, several middle aged couples and one REALLY old couple. The old lady had on this low cut moo-moo dress that showed everything she had. The honeymoon couple laughed every time they glanced in her direction. Would it have killed them to give me a newspaper from the day we set sail and let me sit at my own table? Jeesh.

Then it was time to hit the pool. Okay, the pool was about twice the size of our room. No, I'm not joking. Twenty people in that pool and it would have been crowded. And it was a suspicious green color. Not appealing at all. So, I decided to just grab a lounge chair and catch some rays. Well, there were so many lounge chairs on deck that they were all touching each other. You had to start at the bottom, crawl up the chair and then flip over. And you had better like your neighbor really well. It was really hot, but I was hanging in there. Then, the reggae band started. Oh my. I bet folks on the nearest island heard them! I lasted about 30 seconds after they got started. I scootched right off the end of my chair and went back to my room.

The next day was the best day of all. The cruise ended. I have never been so glad to end a vacation in my LIFE. You know that feeling you get when you don't have your car with you, maybe y0u rode with someone else, and you aren't having fun but you don't have the option to leave? That is a terrible feeling. And it started the minute we got on board. I was terribly claustrophobic the whole time. If a helicopter had landed and offered to take the highest bidder off the ship I hate to think how much it would have cost me but I would have won that auction!

So, that is my only cruise experience. I know, I know, I'm the weird one, not you. You had tons of fun on your multiple cruises and can't wait to book your next one. I'll just find a deserted island somewhere (with NO fences or hot dogs!) and live happily ever after.

Food

Dear Goodson Children,
On Saturday night, at the annual Chili cook off, I took 2nd place. 2nd place! And I didn't even try all that hard. I flipped through my homemade cookbook Saturday morning and picked up the ingredients that afternoon. By 5:30pm the house smelled good and we had award winning chili. Viola! Now, don't get me wrong, I am no Julia Childs. But I CAN cook. Decent, edible meals are possible from my kitchen.

One day, dear children, YOU will be the one faced with cooking for YOUR children. And I hate to do it to you but I wish with every fiber of my being that they are as picky as each of you. More so, if that is even possible.

I hope they ask what's for dinner and then cut you off mid-sentence wailing, "Ohhhhhhhhh NO! I HATE THAT!!!!!!" Even if it is something that they have never heard of until that very moment and can't have a CLUE as to what is in it or what it might taste like.

I hope you stand in the middle of the grocery store, surrounded by food, and wonder what you can buy that they will eat.

I hope that when you do find something that two of them will eat that the third gags on it, every single time.

I hope they sit at the table and cry over perfectly good food.

I hope they are eventually sent to their beds with empty stomachs because they refused to try anything on their plates.

I hope your 6 six year old sons weigh 35 lbs.

I hope you have to beg your friends for food ideas. Then realize after the second suggestion that your children are not normal eaters and nothing you are hearing would interest them in the least.

I hope your 4Ker comes out of class at noon SO excited because at snack time he had banana pudding and he LOVED it. And you are SO excited that he ate something and loved it that you drive directly to the grocery store, find the 'Nilla Wafers, buy all the ingredients on the back of the box, rush home and make it for him. Then, as he hesitantly takes a bite, he declares it awful. And you ask his teacher the next day and she says they made instant vanilla pudding, not banana pudding. And it turns out that your son only liked the 'shaking' part of this snack, not the 'eating' part.

I hope your toddlers put one piece of food in their mouth and hold it there, without swallowing. Thus preventing you from adding the next bite. I hope they get up from their nap 2 hours later with that same bite still in their mouth, apparently afraid you'd try to feed them as they slept.

I hope you have to report at every doctor visit that your children do not eat, they live off air. You are not sure how they poop, because pooping would require eating at some point. And the pediatrician, like your friends, tries to give you suggestions. Suggestions that aren't even close to something your child would eat.

I hope that before you leave on vacation you spend a week making a very short list of foods that the grandparents MIGHT sneak into your children while you are gone.

I hope that you are embarrassed when well meaning friends say, "Ah, just let them eat with us tonight, we're just having xxxxxx." Because you KNOW your child would never eat that. So you just say you'd better be getting home.

I hope you go to bed at night wondering if they took ONE bite of anything that day.

My dear children, I will continue to cook good food for you. It is my job. I love you and want you to EAT. Something. Anything! But I am so very frustrated with you right now. I don't want to eat the entire bowl of vegetable beef soup. It starts to get old after the 4th day in a row. And I am leaving your father out of this entirely because if I got started on his picky-ness it would be even less cheerful of a post than it is now. (But seriously, who doesn't eat pasta?)

Anyway, BON APPETIT!

Love, Mom