:: Friday’s new tradition, Flowers for Sunshine from dad, was a success.  Again.  Mom’s fabulous idea.  Yes, I have a problem with pride.  I know.  I confess it often.  Anyway, I was thinking about the father/daughter bond and just trying to come up with something sweet Lance could for his daughter.  And then I thought flowers.  Every week.  So it started last Friday.  Just simple yellow flowers.  And boy, does she know they are her flowers.  She loves them, points to them and makes sure everyone knows they are not moms.  If only she knew whose damn idea it was!

Lance used to buy me flowers quite often.  Making sure I didn’t feel left out, he bought tulips for me.  Sunshine thinks they belong to her, but they are all mine!  And they are beautiful.

:: The boys have started baseball.  Three boys in baseball.  What the hell was I thinking?  What happened to the rule about no organized sports until you are 5?  Snax is so cute though.  It takes him a while to hit the ball, but that’s okay because once he does, he’s good.  Baby Hulk is actually pretty good and Goose will be once he gets the hang of the machine.

We’ve completed one week of games, and Baby Hulk’s team isn’t too bad.  They have some good hitters and just need to learn about fielding.  Goose’s team won today as well and he hit twice off the machine.  And Snax, well, first he was pissed to be missing a birthday party.  But we made it through that and he went to the game with a decent attitude.  30 minutes into the game, he commented that it was taking too long.  I can always depend on him for honestly.

:: Pope Francis is celebrating Holy Thursday in a juvenile detention center instead of St. Peter’s or St. John Lateran.  You cannot wipe the smile off my face.  Or the admiration.  Seriously, he picked the right Saint to model himself after.   Pope Francis’ love for the poor and most needy just makes me happy.  This is exactly what we need now.  And it seems like I need to get myself to Rome for a papal audience soon.  I might need to rethink my fear of flying and my “I’ve been to Europe enough times” stance.

And can I say that I love how much my kids talk about the Holy Father?  I wonder if I ever talked about JPII?  I don’t remember talking about him.  I knew who he was of course, but I didn’t come to love him until I was in my 20’s.  But my kids, they talk about the Popes and ask questions and that just makes me proud.  And to be honest, it makes me feel like I’m doing something right.

Back to Holy Week…I am so humbled right now.  And so full of love.  I want more from my faith and my prayer life.  I need to be doing more.

:: Someone saw Sunshine today after almost a year and commented that she certainly wasn’t petite anymore.  How do you take that?  I know she isn’t, she eats like a pig and screams when you don’t feed her.  But still…it’s like those people on twitter who tell you that you look fat or old, for who knows what reason.  Nobody ever wants to hear about their weight unless it’s to say they look really skinny.

:: Speaking of skinny, is there anything better to make a girl start a diet than for her to find out that someone bigger than her now weighs less than her?  Not speaking from personal experience or anything.

:: The boys all have their own helmets for baseball.  Clearly, there is a reason and that reason is in the form of little bugs that invade your life.  We’ve had two practices so far, and each time, I’ve told them not to let anyone use their helmet.  At All.  Last week, Snax ran to practice shouting at the coach, “here is my helmet and nobody can use it, my mom says.”  Someone kept asking Goose over and over to use his helmet, but he wasn’t budging.  The kid kept asking why and Goose, just said, “NO”.  And Baby Hulk, well, someone dared to pull his helmet off his head.  And I thought he might lose his cool.  He did yank it back and say, “it’s my helmet and you can’t use it!”

From an outsider it sounds like I am raising little selfish demons, but I’m not.  I always make sure my kids share, probably to the point of interfering too much, but on this one, sorry, guys, get your own helmets.  Having lice was worse than any asshole boyfriend.  It’s that bad.  It’s so bad, that I haven’t given the kids back their stuffed animals or comforters.  I am making them have one more lice check before handing over the goods.

:: Squirt is getting ready for Prom.  All I can say is thank you mom and dad.  This crap is ridiculously expensive.  I can’t wait to see everyone all dressed up though, especially my handsome son.  I hope his date doesn’t dress trashy.

:: I recently had a friend move to a middle eastern country.  As in she left yesterday.  Honestly, I can’t imagine leaving before Holy Week, but she did.  She packed up her house, organized things and will be home to visit in 9 months.  She’s gone for three years, her parents aren’t happy, but she’s following her husband.  It’s best for his job.  I think it will be a great adventure, but I know it’s hard for her to leave here.  I hope I always support my husband the way she has.  (Don’t worry, mom and dad, he’s not taking me to a middle eastern country.  They don’t have much use for a sports radio host.)

:: I think I might have gone too far with handprint art.  But I kind of think this is cute. And what a great way to get the kids into Holy Week.