Drugs and the conversations that go with them

Abby is learning about all kinds of drugs in 6th grade.

For one of her homework assignments she had to teach the family about them and come up with

a family rule.

Here is the conversation that ensued:

Abby: The first thing is tobacco (this is pretty much all Abby gets to say in this conversation)

Jeff: Do you know what tobacco is?

Emily: Oh, I know. Isn't it some sauce that's spicy? Or something like that.

Jeff: No, its whats in cigarettes and it causes cancer. You know Grandma? She's had cancer (and an extremely long winded Jeff continues to go off on a small tangent about how cancer affected his family. I sympathize but I've also noticed the clock and how we are 15 minutes past bedtime. I start to sweat a little in my armpits thinking about bedtime and how if they don't go to bed on time they wont wake up happy and there goes my day).

Emily: So Grandma used to smoke?

Me: NoGrandmadidn'tusedtosmokeletsmoveon.
Jeff: No, Grandma didn't used to smoke, all kinds of people can get cancer. Lets move on.

Garrett raises his hand

Garrett: Uh, dad, what did you used to play with when you were a kid? Were you ever bored?

Me: (under my breath) crap

Jeff: I was NEVER bored. I played trains or built forts. I played soccer or with my horses. I played with my trucks and diggers..........(it goes on and on but for the sake of a lengthy post we'll stop)

Me: Well, well. Lookie here. Wasn't he lucky? The only toy I got to play with is the cat poop in the sand box. Well, that and a stick if I was lucky.

Garrett: (rubbing my back) Mom, I feel so sad for you. Your only toy was poop?

Me: Abby whats next?

Abby: Alcohol is next, it kills brain cells

Garrett: What is a brain cell?

Emily: a cell is this little thing that has its own brain. Like when you itch your head and you have dandruff, thats dead cells.

Garrett: So alcohol is going to give me DANDRUFF? (horrified)

Jeff: Well, let me tell you a story about alcohol...............

And it went on. Me feeling guilty for rushing this very important conversation. But seriously? If I didn't hear kids sleeping soon I was going to have my own alcohol story.

I decided to take a xanax and let the conversation flow...just kidding. I didn't have the energy to walk into the bathroom to get one.

Drugs...a very interesting topic at the Jones household.

PS...in all reality we decided to continue the homework assignment when time was on our side, like tomorrow evening at 6. With Jeff-ipedia we need a few hours.

gill

In all the Holiday hustle and bustle my baby celebrated his 7th Birthday

Where would one go for their Birthday dinner? Well if its Gilly then we'll be at Sizzler. He wipes that place out of cubed ham and watermelon every time we go. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he couldn't make up his mind. He was with me at the grocery store and when I saw the price quality of their cakes I said, in a serious fashion, "Geez, for that we could buy you that remote control helicopter you wanted." Thats all it took for him to choose a small cake at a much smaller price. He really isn't a big cake eater...okay, he is but he sure likes his helicopter. Besides, they have a dessert bar at Sizzler.

And see this train? This was SUPPOSED to be his Birthday present but because of shipping matters we had to switch Christmas with Birthday. Jeff and Gil are quite obsessed with trains right now. They spend hours setting up, cleaning, making track. And we even had my brother who is an artist paint graffiti on some box cars. I like his cute little head poking out to check the speed of the train.

 From his silliness to his love of sports. From him still needing his mama to being just like his dad. His one armed push ups, his pronouncing words a little bit wrong (Louie is the wii), trying to be like the big boys and everything in between, I love this kid.

New Years

This New Years Eve we had a great time. We pulled out the Raclette (I didn't get pictures of that because I kind of forgot to get the camera out). We then progressed to some New Years activities. The kids picked out some dinosaurs to dig out. They were intent on staying up till midnight. I was intent on turning the clocks back 2 hours because I didn't want to deal with ornery kids the next day.

We thankfully had Sadie with us

Gil working on his T-Rex

They found some rubber gloves so they wouldn't get their hands dirty

At 11:30 (9:30) we went out and lit sparklers

Blew the air horn

lit more sparklers

and had hot chocolate afterward thanks to my new hot chocolate maker

Happy 2011

The greatest part of the night was when we tricked the kids that it was really midnight....there was a car commercial on with a times square ball dropping. We yelled "Look! the ball is dropping!" and quickly averted their attention so they wouldn't notice that it was a commercial. I was snuggly tucked into bed with my book by the time the real 12:00 rolled around. I know it won't always be this easy.

Actual text from Jeff

This came in while I was taking a mommmy break with some friends

"Em started reading the Bible, Abby has a cough and Gilly prayed "Heavenly Father, please bless mom will come home."



I love my life.