Introducing Belle...

Julia was very fortunate this week to have received a hand-me-down from her cousin, Ms. Ava. As you can tell, Julia is over-the-top overjoyed with her new addition to her dress up collection. She is a bit ridiculous...She had me put a bun in her hair, add a yellow 'Belle' ribbon, and is of course wearing her yellow Belle dress up shoes. I have no doubt that if it were 1937 and the search was on for a Scarlett O'Hara, Julia would be first in line for an audition. She would certainly not ever pass up the opportunity to wear beautiful dresses. Too bad for Julia...I'm just not sure Scarlet was meant to be a blonde...But, anyways, we are pleased to present Ms. Belle...

Ms. Belle with her Prince

Ms. Belle with her Prince and her Puppy

Confessions from this Mommy

MY KIDS ARE DISGUSTING!!

and

I MAY BE IN THE RUNNING FOR WORST MOM OF THE YEAR AWARD!


Yes, this does seem a bit dramatic, but all of it has a bit of truth embedded deep inside the proclamation. My children are disgusting...I have several examples from this past week to prove it and I was also a bad Mommy this week...my children ate at McDonald's for lunch two days in a row! I can hear the chorus of sighs and gasps from you all the way over here at my house! Don't worry...My kids are not overweight, I didn't bride them with Happy Meals, and 50% of their lunch consisted of yogurt parfaits. So what if they washed the yogurt down with french fries and ketchup! So, why are my kids disgusting?? Well, here are a few examples!

*While eating a yogurt tube at the park on Monday, Julia dripped a bit down onto the soft surface of the playground area. As I was on my way over to wipe it up, she got down on her hands and knees to...wait for it, wait for it...Yes, that's right! She was going to lick it up!! Luckily, my scream in utter disgust stopped her cold.

*While eating at McDonald's for lunch on Tuesday, Alex dribbled a bit of ketchup on the side of the table. As most of you know me, you know that I always wipe the table down with an antibacterial wipe before eating, but I don't think I wiped down the edge of the table. I then caught Alex (yes, my almost six year old) using his tongue to lick up the dropped ketchup! Can I gag now?

*The next day, at a different McDonald's in a different town, both Alex and Julia needed to use the facilities. While I was instructing Alex on what to do in the boy's room, Julia entered the girl's restroom. Although just two seconds behind her, I opened the door to the sight of Julia crawling under the door of the bathroom stall to get to the toilet. Luckily, there was no one in the stall but, seriously, hasn't she ever heard of a door knob?? My skin is still crawling thinking about this one...Have you ever seen a McDonald's bathroom floor?? Not good...not good at all!

*While making the Abraham Lincoln tour in Springfield on Friday, Julia spilled her pretzel fish in her carseat. Dramatic me let out a lecture to her about how I had just vacuumed out the car earlier in the week and how it is stuff like spilled pretzel fish and all the salt that comes with it that just kills me. Her response?? "Don't worry Mommy, I'll lick it up for you!" Blecccch! How do you respond to that without laughing?? I sent her on her way with her Uncle and cleaned it up quickly leaving a treat for the birds, so she wouldn't have to fulfill her promise!

I hope you enjoyed the antics of our past week!

March Madness...Final Four Picks

DADDY

Ohio State, Duke, Purdue, and St. John's

MOMMY

Ohio State, Duke, Notre Dame, and Brigham Young

ALEX

North Carolina, Duke, Texas A & M, and Florida

JULIA

Georgia, Duke, Kansas, and Florida

DUKE

Duke, Duke, Duke, and Duke!!!

Presidential Hopefuls

While having dinner the other evening, for some reason (for which I cannot remember) I was reminding Alex that his given name is Alexander. I probably had referred to him by his given name because he was not eating his peas...it is just something that us moms would do...and he, of course, probably belted at me "MY NAME IS ALEX, NOT ALEXANDER!" Well, as many of you know, Alex does not like to be called Alexander. Although this irritates me a bit, I mostly just tease him and make light of the situation by telling him to be proud of his name...After-all, he was named after Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay and he should darn well be proud of it (Not really the truth...So, if you tells you this with confidence someday, try not to laugh)! I also joke with him that I gave him a presidential sounding name...just in case...he might run for president someday. I felt as though, if this was in fact his dream, that he should have a name with a 'presidential ring' to it. I always tell him that I have not failed him in giving him an appropriate name, so when he runs for president...his ticket will in fact say "Alexander" on it.

So, the conversation went as usual that day until it took a different turn this time around. Julia taps on my hand and asks me..."When I'm president, will you get me a Barbie?" I proudly tell her that I would be happy to give her a Barbie as a gift when she is elected President. This gave me such giggles at dinnertime...Poor Julia, she has been asking for a Barbie for weeks and I keep telling her to put it on her Christmas list. Evidently, she was hopeful that her Presidency just might come before Christmas...Of course, what three year old wouldn't?

Well, if Julia gets a gift for being elected President, shouldn't Alex (hhhmmm, huh...Alexander) as well? Alex immediately chimes in with his request for fear of missing out on a wonderful opportunity to increase the bounty he has stashed in his room. And, as most of you know Alex's likes and dislikes, you can probably make a proper predication for the request that blurts out of his mouth..."Mommy, if I am President, can you get me some ARMY MEN?" After Daddy and I bust up laughing and with him staring at us in a very confused state...I finally respond..."Honey, if that is what you want, you will most certainly get it. Although Mommy and Daddy won't have to buy you little army men. You'll be Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. You'll have your very own army men." Alex responds..."Real army men?" "Yes, Alex, real army men." Alex's eyes became real big and wide and he just let out a big..."WOW!"

I don't know if I should be concerned about my little 'Presidential Hopefuls.' I can't say that I really would like for them to be President...Too much stress for this mama! Maybe, someday, when they are elected Class President (I think my stress levels can handle that)...I'll pull out this post with their wrapped gifts...A Barbie Doll and some Army Men.

My Absenteeism

I am fully aware that I have been fairly absent from the blog recently. I can't exactly help it...It seems as though I am always being pulled in about twelve different directions and, honestly, I have just been incredibly busy over the past few months. I know, I know...I am a stay-at-home mom. I should have all the time in the world and then a little extra on the side for things such as blogging. But, the truth is, it seems as though my to-do list is getting longer and my days are getting shorter. And, it doesn't help that this is actually my second attempt on this post...It came up as an error earlier when trying to post it and despite repeated 'save now' hits, somehow disappeared. I have some choice words for Blogger, but I will keep them to myself for now.

So, why have I been so busy? Well, first off...I signed up to be a 'Room Mother' for Alex's class. I have spent the past few months planning parties, organizing fundraiser baskets, organizing parents, needs, and supplies, as well as been keeping in contact with everyone via email. The good news is that, as of Sunday, my responsibilities with regards to being 'Room Mother' have dwindled drastically. The Valentine's Day Party is but a memory and the dreaded Fundraiser Baskets have been turned in and have been delivered to some lucky winner. Aside from some small responsibilities in the coming months, I have been able to shed this stressful, yet fulfilling responsibility for now.

As if things could not be any crazier, Daddy and I accepted the challenge to complete the "Pizza Puzzle" right in the middle of the chaos of organizing and putting together the fundraiser baskets. It was a 500 piece monstrosity (Only 500, you say?? Well, come over...we'll tear it apart and see what you can do with it!), but we were able to get it done with sheer determination and maybe a bit of blood, sweat, and tears. Let's just say that I lost quite a bit of sleep that week...especially since when I finally did climb into bed, all I could see was puzzle pieces floating around in my mind.

Most importantly, any extra time that I have had recently has been reserved for genealogical research. I recently became determined to attempt to solve a family mystery...one of those 'skeletons in the closet' kind of family mystery. I am trying to find the family of the man in the picture above...my grandfather. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, but never knew his biological father. I am actually not even sure when he realized that his stepfather was not actually his biological father...My mother didn't even find out until she was an adult. It just wasn't talked about...a 'hush, hush' kind of family secret.

So, what started all of this? Well, I have always been interested in genealogy. It is of great interest to me and I have always taken great pride in the extensive family tree I detailed for a project for an Anthropology course in college (By today's standards, it would be considered absolutely pathetic. You can do so much more with technology these days). My cousin started doing a little research in December and hit upon some promising leads using Ancestory.com...and before I knew it, I was shoulder deep in obsession with trying to figure out the mystery.

Google has been my best friend over the past few months. Even Daddy has made a comment here or there about all the 'searching' I've been doing (He is none to happy about his new full time role helping fold laundry...I must say that I'm not missing it too much). I am constantly reviewing searches in my mind and trying to come up with new combinations in order to produce results that have gone previously unnoticed. All in all, I believe that I have been able to unofficially determine who my grandpa's father was based on stories shared over the generations and also by obtaining pictures of his potential half-siblings (It is amazing what you can obtain just by asking...nicely). Of course, pictures are worth a thousand words...but, your mind can convince you of just about anything when you want so desperately for there to be a connection. So, I've continued trying to find any information that can possibly validate what I think may be the truth.

In my search, I have discovered just how easy it can be to go backwards in the family tree. I have been able to trace my grandpa's possible family line from North Dakota, to Illinois, to Indiana, and finally into Kentucky at the beginning of the 1800s. My struggle has been going forward...anywhere past the 1940s. Ancestory.com just doesn't have the documentation for recent decades to assist in my search and, in a time of people moving from place to place, it is hard to order census records, marriage documents, and death certificates if you don't know where to look for them. At points, I thought it would be so easy to just use the white pages online, but, unfortunately, it just was not that simple. Trust me, I tried.

So, forward I go...I am still looking for the descendants of my grandfather's potential half-siblings. My hope is that they will be able to provide me with some information to corroborate what I believe may be the truth. For now, the truth still eludes me, but I am right at its heels...and I don't plan on giving up anytime soon.

My only regret is that I have not been able to share any information that I have discovered with my grandpa, who passed away in 2000. He died not knowing...I am doing this for him because I know, deep down inside, that he wanted to know. He just didn't have the resources at the time to try and figure it out...Now I do and I am going to see what I can figure out!