Butterflies

One of Rachael’s birthday presents was that butterfly house that has a commercial on Nickelodeon every 2.5 seconds of the day. She wanted it and got it for said birthday.

Nathaniel got an ant farm for Christmas. It was so cool, it was a clear plastic get up full of pink gel that we could watch them tunnel and travel through. They ate it and the worst it got was that once I had to open it and pry out a dead ant that its fellow worker ants had so nicely carried to the top of the surface. We popped the top every couple of days to give them some energizing air and that was it. Just sit back and watch.

This butterfly thing is pretty nasty….nasty if you’re not into touching nature and all that crunchy granola stuff….I’m sure it’s gloriously one with the earth for all those who like that kind of thing. I want my nature via Discovery Channel, thank you very much. We had to mail away for the larvae to get started. 5 little caterpillars come in a cup with a bunch of food…also known as brown looking crud that made me gag a little every time I looked at it…and they just hang out there until they get full and then they do their spin-y, hang from the ceiling and go all pupal.

The kids have diligently watched and checked every day to see when they would start wrapping their little shells and then we have to transfer them from the cup to the house…I use the word WE so liberally. I had to open the cup, which smelled like I can only imagine a camel’s abscessed tooth would smell, and dig out the little cardboard insert that the caterpillars were now stuck to.

My hand touched the brown muck! Again, that nice healthy gag reflex. I am so grossed out by this point and I’ve got 5 caterpillars dangling from my hand now and I look up and my kids are not gaping at me with awestruck expressions of Holy-cow-you’re-my-mom-and-I’m-so-impressed. In fact….they’re no longer even in the room.

“HEY! Where are all of you?”

Rachael came in from the office where she had gone back to her video game, Nathaniel comes in from Lego-land and Peyton didn’t even bother to come back.

“Why am I doing this by myself? This is gross, and it’s YOUR present, Rachael!”

Rachael says, “You’re the mom, you do all the gross stuff, that’s your job.”

Nathaniel HAD to open his mouth at this point. “And you cook, mom. WOMEN are supposed to do that too.”

Thank you, my knuckle-dragging caveman of a son, go back to inventing the wheel and discovering fire and I’ll just sit back here and slowly drown in the sea of chauvinism.

The soon-to-be-butterflies are in their future home.

I made Nathaniel scrub toilets and fold towels today.

f.r.o.G.
–Anissa

I read a lot of different blogs and there is apparently this thing gong around to write down 50 thing you like about yourself. It was harder than I thought, but here are my 50.

50 things I like about me

1. I have faith that I’m actually going to find 50 things I like about myself

2. I have friends from grade school that I still keep in contact with

3. I can make my kids laugh until they cry, or wet their pants, whatever comes first

4. I’m not afraid to dance in public

5. I embrace my bad hair days

6. My bookshelf is completely filled with randomness

7. I never felt the need to read selections based on Oprah’s book club

8. Although no one else on the face of the planet could do it, I understand my filing system….the registration for my van goes under D for “Drive”

9. I never listen to voicemail, I just return calls

10. I share my Ipod with 3 kids so the playlists include Soulja Boy (really!), the entire soundtrack to Hairspray (of course) and 3 different version of “the itsy bitsy spider”

11. I can drink a boot of beer in under 60 seconds

12. I think Howard Stern is an ass

13. I picked great parents to be my adoptive family

14. I have a sister that is my friend

15. I’ve learned to forgive AND, if not forget, at least not obsess about until I feel a muscle clicking in my jaw

16. I am a better parent than I thought I’d ever be, just to MY kids, don’t offer me any of yours

17. I’m a better wife than I ever dreamed of trying to be, but the bar was set pretty low on that one, so I had nowhere to go but up

18. I talk to strangers

19. I can put on pantyhose while driving

20. I am unashamed of my caffeine addiction

21. I love that my kids love the merry-go-round because it gives me a reason to get on without being creepy

22. I can’t fathom spending 3000$ on a purse

23. I still cry EVERY time I see “Terms of Endearment”

24. I worry that I’ll become Shirley Maclaine in the aforementioned film

25. I ate only popcorn for the first 3 months of my pregnancy with Rachael

26. I snore

27. I enjoy folding laundry once I get started doing it

28. I sometimes read in the bathroom, forget where I’m at and then my butt’s all numb for a half an hour afterwards

29. I wear my seatbelt

30. I’m a stacker and a piler when it comes to organization

31. I really hate all pets that resemble rodents

32. I take great pictures of my kids

33. I pray every day, usually all through the day

34. I’m working on my potty mouth

35. I’ve learned that support group is a great thing

36. I can cry without shame now

37. I’ve learned how to buy jeans that fit someone with no hips and short legs

38. I love movies and tv shows with no educational value

39. I’m a night owl

40. I put up with braces at 30 years old so that I can smile freely now

41. I had to learn to appreciate my unique look growing up in an area where there was NO ONE that looked anything like me and I felt like a freak

42. I get to be mom to my 3 amazing kids

43. I actually married the RIGHT one!

44. I’m not scared to hang all my vulnerabilities out there and let the world know it’s ok to feel

45. I own 15 pairs of flip flops

46. I have tremendous friends and each one is a gift

47. I can ask my husband if I look fat in something, he tells me the truth and I don’t get angry

48. I’m thankful for the struggles in my life, they make me who I am

49. I’m pretty good at a lot of things, which I guess is better than being REALLY rocking at only 1

50. I was never a cheerleader, but I did knock myself unconscious trying out for color guard

I would love it anyone took the challenge, wrote out your 50 and shared it with me! Email it to Anissa.Mayhew@gmail.com