Dave got six free hockey tickets last week. Four of the seats were together and two of them were a row over. Dave brought his friend Bryan and his son and Ryan. He gave the other two tickets to Lauren and Mike. Lauren called me the next day to report that every time she saw Ryan, he had something new in his hand, Dippin Dots, nachos, soda. She said "Dad acted like Ryan was an only child, he didn't even ask me if I wanted anything." Last time I checked she has a job and so does her boyfriend. I say, if she wants cotton candy she should buy it herself!!!! Dave asked her, "Did you ask for anything?" She of course said, "I don't think I should have to, you should know. " I'm so proud, she will make an excellent wife someday, my little prodigy.

Shannon came home from school excited. She said "Mom, I don't have an F in Health. I have a 68% that is a D, A 65% and under is an F. I was so relieved, I said "Shannon that is fabulous, your father and I are going to get on the phone first thing in the morning to see if there is still room for you in the gifted program.

We had a dinner dance in Mexico MO last night. Dave decided to drink a whole bottle of wine. He decided that having a hangover would be a good excuse to not finish the St Patricks Day race he was in today. Somewhere in his warped brain that actually sounded logical. We stayed the night in Mexico and got up at 6:00 to make it back home in time for the race and parade. When we got home, the kids were all still asleep and Maggie was running a fever. I pumped her full of Advil and had grandma take care of her while we were at the race. I told grandma to bring her up to the parade if she perked up. Dave was able to finish the race, hangover and all. What a stallion, (Not) he finished in 42 minutes(4 miles), not too shabby for an almost 40 year old. Mike finished in 32 minutes and Kelsey in 35 minutes. Maggie felt better and was able to make it to the parade. Dave entered a float for his company and everyone had fun throwing out candy and trinkets. Ryan got to ride his unicycle and was hamming it up the whole way. I did learn a valuable lesson today. Never use fabric paint on your children's face. Unless of course you don't mind having your child go through life looking like an Irish flag.

Why is it that I feel like I need to sleep four extra hours when we lose one during daylight savings time?? We have been going to 5:00 mass on Saturday's so we can sleep in on Sunday's. I slept until 10:00 today which was actually 11:00. I can't remember the last time that I slept so late. Ryan had a 1:30 basketball game, Shannon had to be picked up at a friends house, Maggie had a 3:00 soccer game, Shannon had tumbling lessons at 3:00 and Erin had a dire emergency. She desperately needed her phone charger because she had to work all day and her phone was ready to die. How will she get through her shift without texting?? The plan was for Dave to pick up Shannon and bring Erin her charger, (Erin works close to Shannon's friend's house) I was going to take Ryan to his basketball game. Dave would drop Maggie off at the soccer fields and have Kelsey stay with her in case her coach didn't get there that early and then head to tumbling with Shannon. Of course every well orchestrated plan has some type of glitch. Kelsey gave Dave Shannon's phone charger instead of Erin's so he had to get the right one when he picked up Kelsey and Maggie. It is always best for everyone to keep Erin/Sybil happy. Ryan and I got to the game in time for kick off. It was really windy today. Ryan was cold so I told him to go get the sheet out of the back of the van. Kelsey and Ryan spent the whole second half playing with the sheet behind the fields like it was a parachute. Kelsey said that was the most fun she has had in 10 years. Who needs a kite on a windy day, all you need is a bed sheet. Wow my kids are weird.

Speaking of weird, Lauren called me from the bathroom stall at IHOP. She said Mike was aggravate with her because she made him stop at IHOP on the way home so she could go to the bathroom. She had been in there over 15 minutes and he was sending her text messages from the parking lot that said "IHOP called, they said to get your girlfriend out of the bathroom, she was smelling it up." I asked her why she was sharing this with me? She had no good response. I heard a toilet flush, I said, "you are making me gag, I am going to hang up now." She said, That wasn't me." What would motivate anyone to call their mother and tell them that they are pooping at IHOP when other people can hear and smell them? She called me back 20 minutes later to tell me that she made Mike stop at another restaurant on the way home, her stomach hurt again. She then explained that she thinks it could be because she drank too much last night. What could make a mother more proud than her daughter pooping all over St. Louis County other than knowing that it is because she drank too much. My kids are amazing.

I got an email from Shannon's Health teacher today. It wasn't telling me what a joy it was to have my perfect child in her class. It actually said something along the lines of "Shannon has a 68% in my class, I have talked to her and she has agreed that she needs to put much more effort in to my class." HEALTH are you kidding me, of all the classes to be flunking and my kid is flunking health. Don't you get a C just for showing up? I talked to Shannon when she got home and of course it is because the teacher is stupid. I figure there had to be a good excuse, I do have to admit that my poor precious baby has had an unfair amount of stupid teachers. I sure hope the teachers get smarter the older she gets, it is so unfair. I have a feeling the next three and a half years are going to be like pulling teeth trying to get Shannon to graduate despite all the "stupid " teachers.

The weather was finally a little warmer today. The kids were able to play outside for a change. Ryan and his neighborhood buddy like to play in the woods behind our house. He had batting cage practice tonight so I just made grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup for dinner. Ryan eats next to nothing and doesn't like grilled cheese so he was only going to eat soup. I called him in for dinner and grandma who always likes to interject parenting tips (just in case I haven't figured out how to parent yet ) said to Ryan "make sure you wash your hands." He looked at her like she was crazy and said "Grandma I'm eating with a spoon, I don't need to wash my hands." Although logical, I have a feeling that he might flunk health someday too.

Erin has had soccer try outs all week. She has come home so crabby, her whole body is sore. Shannon has been riding home with another carpool. I informed her that next week she will be staying after school to work on homework while she is waiting for her sister at soccer practice. I am not paying a carpool for her to come home and check facebook. She can stay at school with all the stupid teachers and work on bringing all of her grades up, especially health.

Sam called me today, she is leaving for Miami tomorrow for Spring break. I sure hope I don't see her on a girls gone wild video commercial in a few weeks.