TGIF. I am so happy to be staying in town this weekend. I still haven't cleaned out the van from last weekends trip. It is starting to get embarrassing every morning when I drop the kids off at school. Every time someone opens the van door, something rolls out. Come to think of it I think my closets are that way too!!

Kelsey came home from camp today. She seems to have had a good time. She was pretty quiet because she was so tired. She told me she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night one night and the cabin was dark. She missed the ladder and hit the floor. She didn't have any stairs to fall down like she does at home so she settled for falling out of bed.

I picked up the fabric today for Maggie's St Margaret Mary costume for All Saints day at school. I am not much of a seamstress. I gave Erin a sewing machine two years ago for Christmas. She is really creative and I thought she would really enjoy playing with it. Christmas morning she made Shannon a mini skirt made out of fleece. She named it "attacked by a cheetah." It really did look like something "attacked by a cheetah." It was rather disturbing. I thought about having Erin help me with the costume but I don't see St Margaret Mary in a fleece miniskirt with holes in it. Then I had another great idea. What if I used a costume I already had here at home. I searched through our dress up clothes and came up with a great idea. I could send her to school in our sponge bob costume. Wasn't he the patron saint of square pants? It could work, her teacher is young, maybe she will believe me.

Today started typically, Maggie brought me her library books to clean the dog pee off of them before she turned them in. If anyone has a first grader at Assumption, you may want to pass on Tallyho Pinkerton and the Rookie Reader with a picture of a boy with an iguana on his shoulder. Just a little heads up!!!

About this time 20 years ago I was in my 16th hour of labor with little Lauren. I think even at 9 months pregnant I was 20 lbs thinner then I am now. Oh that makes me so happy!!! It is hard to believe so many years have passed. I don't even feel 20 years older. (Except for the black hair that I plucked from my neck today.)

Erin got some new jeans today after school. Her and grandma went shopping, she bought these darling jeans that would look great on her if she got them three sizes larger. Why do teenage girls insist on tight jeans. (I remember when I was her age laying on my bed in all of my 85 lbs zipping my Jordache jeans with a hanger. ) She tried them on with one pink spike heel and one leopard print spike heel. She asked "Which shoes do you like better?" Um let me see, how about some khaki's and a pair of flip flops.

We had to go to the neighbors house(a classmate) for help with Maggie's spelling words tonight. One of the words she had written on her list was ort. I was a little uncertain of what ort could possibly be. Maggie said "Oh I know what it is, I think it is "ont." Oh yeah "ont" how silly of me, that makes much more sense. Erin used to be the same way in first grade. We would do a practice spelling test and she would get 10 wrong. We would write the ones she got wrong 5 times each and take another test. She would then get the other 10 wrong. Somehow we survived the year and she is a great student. She still can't spell but neither can her father.

I had quite a few new visitors to my site today. I now have visitors in 13 states and 3 countries pretty cool!!! Thanks for reading about my family's dysfunction and keep spreading the word.

Happy birthday little WA WA. I Love You!!!

(my favorite high maintenance daughter)

Happy birthday Kelly!!

(my favorite high maintenance friend)

Kelsey headed off to camp today, I am really going to miss her. Now when I hear a loud crash I can no longer assume it is just Kelsey falling down the stairs. (for the third time this week) Lauren called me today and I told her Kelsey was at camp, I reminded her to call her on Friday to see how camp was. She asked "did she bring a blow dryer?" I asked her why in the world would she bring a blow dryer. (Obviously my fashion major, high maintenance daughter has never been camping.) No, Lauren she is not going to glamour camp. I bet they don't even have tanning beds in the cabins.

I checked Kelsey's bag that she packed last night and took everything out to label it with a sharpie. I asked her if she packed underwear that fit or did she grab Maggie's. She has a bad habit of wearing her six year old sisters underwear that are about four sizes too small instead of getting hers out of the laundry room. I started pulling them out of the bag and was horrified at what she packed. She had two pair of 4 toddler underwear and one pair that the dog had eaten the crotch out of. I said "great. Kels, crotchless panties for camp, where did you put your go go boots?" She laughed and said she didn't notice them when she packed.

It was my turn to drive to Erin's practice tonight. I worked on homework for a while in the van until it got to dark. Then I went outside so I could be dinner for all the mosquito's in St. Louis County. I am glad someone got dinner tonight!!

I got home and Maggie said there was some excitement in the neighborhood. Someone was tied up, had a baseball bat, was robbed, almost ran over someone, and the husband and wife were screaming at each other, she should have thrown in a rape and a murder while she was at it. I called a neighbor to get the real story. I think a teenager was driving too fast and almost hit a little boy. The little boys father detained the girl until the police came. Maggie's story was much more exciting. It kind of makes me nervous to go to parent teacher conferences this year. I wonder if her teacher knows that Dave ties me up and chases me down the street with baseball bats.