Protected by Zeus

Mikey wisdom. When riding our bikes down the boardwalk, he pulls up next to me and says "mom, I figured out a way to keep people from stealing our stuff. We can put up a sign that says 'if you break in Zeus will curse you'." I was amazed and asked him if he knew who Zeus was. He does. I asked him "what if other people don't know who Zeus is?" he said "then we put a picture of Zeus under the sign". My boss thought it was the most brilliant idea ever. He says I need to put that on tshirt. Maybe that will pay for Mikeys college. Anyone need a "protected by Zeus" shirt? Lol

Meanest mom ever

Dani has informed me that I'm the worst mom ever and I want her to fail. Why? Because she was supposed to pick up her floor before dance class and instead she was lying in bed playing on her ipad. This is the third time she's refused to do it. So I'm not taking her to dance class (sorry Rori!) and she's hysterical. She says she can't be a minute late. Wish she cared about getting to sc...hool on time like this. She says we all want her to die and no one cares about her. 30 minutes of hysterics so far. She could have had it cleaned 15 minutes ago if she wasn't pitching a fit. Mikey is just as miserable. He's screaming that I hate kids. Why? Because his floor is covered in junk that he refuses to clean. And to think, I was excited to come home from work early.

1st grade contraband

Yesterday I discussed Mikey's habit of sneaking toys and contraband to school with his teacher. She just emailed me to let me know that he brought squirt bottles to school today and she has them in her cabinet. I wrote back and apologized and let her know that I must have missed them this morning when frisked him and searched his bag and confiscated the toy snake, toy pocket watch and hackeysack. Gotta love life with Mikey

Menace to the boardwalk

So Mikey is the a-hole kid on a bike at the beach. We were cruising down the boardwalk and it gets really narrow at a certain point. I asked Mikey if he was OK because it gets really crowded for a block. He said "I'm fine mom" and then takes off - full speed - little kid on a 16" bike with training wheels - complete with his nutcase helmet with flames on it - right into the crowd of beach goers.... People are diving to get out of his way - well maybe jumping in either direction - and as he makes it past the first few shops he screams out "LEVEL ONE COMPLETE". Another couple shops and he screams "LEVEL TWO COMPLETE". All the way to the end of the narrow block where he yells out "MOM I COMPLETED TEN LEVELS!". Meanwhile I'm riding behind him apologizing left and right to all of the innocent (well not totally innocent since they were loitering and blocking the boardwalk) people left in his wake.... Just another day in paradise.

The more things change the more they seem the same

Every morning I wake up and it's a fight.   I fight to get the kids out of bed.  I fight to get the kids dressed.  I fight to get them out the door.  I fight to get them out of the car at school.  I fight traffic.  I fight freaky coworker who keeps wanting to turn the office into an ice box.  I fight traffic on the way home.  I fight to get the kids to do their homework.  I fight to get them to eat their dinner.  I fight to get them into bed.   Sometimes I just don't want to fight anymore. 

Hello 2014

Another year has gone by.  

2013 year in review.  
January -  started new job
March -  went to Boston to watch Ryan compete in the Irish Dance World Championships
July -  competed on a team at the North American Irish Dance Championships
August -  Mikey got kicked out of the summer program and Dani learned how to ride a bike
September -  bought a couple bikes
October -  was knee deep in iep stuff
November -  danced on a team at the Western Region Oireachtas
December -  got the Lexus of my dreams.  
Pretty good year overall :)

Another year of Irish Dance...

And where are we now? 

After a solid year of competing,  the princess is about where she was a year ago.   It is what it is and what can you do.   I can hope she will someday be a champ but in my heart I know it's probably beyond her grasp.

Our ladies team got third at oireachtas.   That is a huge move up from last year where we got last and Nationals where we tied for last.   That is the result of lots and lots of hard work.

Ryan is about to become the Western Region U18 champion.   It's what happens when you are the only dancer in your age group.   While a bigger competition would be nice,  we will accept the first place and be happy and start planning for worlds in London :)