10...9...8...7...6...

Blast Off!!!!! You get the idea! So I've been playing with paint and I used some for the Sparkle challenge from last night. The background is LuminArte Teal Zircon it shimmers a lot. Here I painted it on black card stock. Then I had to figure out what to do with it? So I started playing with some stamps and other painted papers. The yellow stars and seaweed flames are Heidi Swapp Acrylic Paint in Butterscotch again painted on black then stamped and cut out. I used Doodlebug rub ons for the numbers. All of the stamps are justjohanna's Odd Bird Planet including the circles I used to create the craters of the moon, then cut out with my coluzzle. Stamps used: Rocket, circus star, circle dot background, and seaweed. I colored the rocket and highlighted the moon with Copics.

So other than that it was a pretty normal day. I'm going to start writing a column every week. How to tell when your children have been up half the night playing with their DS's and talking. This even though they were very quiet in their little fort they're Daddy built them on the bottom bunk of the bed. Lets see my first indication was this conversation in the AM as we're doing the mad dash last minute check list to get in the car to go to school. Mommy "Abbi where are your shoes" Abbi "I love my tri-cycle but I think I want to paint it" Mommy "Emily do you have snow pants in your back pack...........WHA tri-cycle? paint?. Ab's I think that you may be getting a little big for the tri-cycle it may be time to get a bigger bike for you" Abbi heads to the car. Mommy and Emily continue the check list. Doo de Doo de Doo driving to school Emily and Mommy talking away about the New Chilie on the menu and how Em got extra cheese etc. Pull in to the school to let Emily out start saying our good byes Abbi(now louder) "BUT I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE my tri-cycle" Mommy being directed where to go by the principle watching for kids and crazy drivers "what......." last wave to Emily. Mommy again tries explaining the age thing and how her legs will be to long etc. etc. By now she is SOBBING, like she lost her dog, in the back of the car. Finally non-caffinated Mommy realizes she needs to go back to bed and rest. Fine, switching gears, I explain how she's tired and she needs to rest or go back to bed before it's time for her to go to school. Fast forward 4 hours to gym class............. She's thrilled and has asked for a hoola hoop for her birthday because that is what we're doing in gym today. Great. All seems well..(note to Mommy's never never be fooled by this sense of peace and tranquility it is not real!!!! It will bite you in the a&*!!!) So class starts everyone gets a hoola hoop Mommy's get instructions how to help we spread out in the gym. We jump rope with them, drive with them, spin them etc. etc. Finally we get to actual hoola hooping(is this a word?) and you know what I cannot hoola hoop. I would be concerned if half of the other mothers could but they can't either so I'm good. There are a couple of contests and 2 of the kids are AWESOME at it can go on and on and on. Abbi and I on the other hand sit in our hoola hoops on the floor because we're out. Now we get to the hard part that Mr. Harris warned us about spinning the hoola hoop on your arm. We were shown how to help so I helped Abbi. It hit her in the head.....Oops the tears start. Now she's mumbling "I can't Hoola Hoop, I can't, I can't, I can't" I try explaining that neither can I or more than half the other people in the room but she doesn't care she's getting more and more upset. The we try to make the hoola hoops come back to us. Mr. Harris explained that if we tell the hoops we love them and they love us they will come back. I'm the mommy that stands up and shows how mine doesn't love me so all the kids can laugh. This of course is Abbi's trick she loves it and can do it but now she's worked up and no matter what she does it doesn't work and she cries and cries. Luckily by now class is over and we put our hoops away and the kids line up to go back to class. She's standing in line trying not to cry but crying anyway(I'm sure that the teacher loves me when she gets back to class). Gym is finally over for another week and she even gave me a hug after class even though I'm sure she was mad at me. Fast forward to the end of the shool day. She is invited to a friends house after school so I tell them they have to pick up the play room and then she can go. In record time they get it done and we're off. Drop her off at her friends and Emily and I go to Starbucks for a treat. She gets a hot cocoa and a cupcake. Now she's settled in the kitchen doing her homework with her amazing snack and no little sister to bother her. Bring Bring(that's the phone) it's a friend of hers from class. "Can Emily come over and do homework together" Mommy is feeling very generous by now things are going well. "Sure but she can only stay an hour they both have to get home to eat dinner and get ready for dance classes etc. etc. blah blah blah" Good to go I drop her off. An hour later I pick up Abbi who by now has forgotten about the tri-cycle and the hoola hoop and wants a Nintendo Game Cube or something for her birthday so she cal play Mario like at her friends. blah blah blah Off to pick up her sister. Things are good right. The other mom is asking me about the dance classes and if we're doing cheer etc. In walks Em leaning on the wall pouting. "I hate dance I don't want to dance anymore" answering the question about if we're doing cheer "NO I hate cheer" "I hate my dance teacher" finally I send her to the car the other mom asks what's up to her daughter. It comes out Em doesn't want to leave to go to dance she wants to play more. I apologize and explain I think their tired. I get into the car she's crying and it comes out they didn't finish their homework and "THEY DIDN'T GET TO PLAY EITHER!!!" by now I'm annoyed and yelling "it's not my fault they didn't play or finish their homework and what did they do for an hour etc. etc." I get in response "I HATE DANCE I WANT TO QUIT" blah blah blah. In the house dinner on the table Daddy and Abbi are smart enough to stay out of the way or help. In the car on the way to dance the crying continues she doesn't want to do it etc. etc. etc. Now I'm explaining to the dance teacher she's really tired etc. etc. etc. I sound like a broken record. I have my phone on me blah blah I'll be at the gym if she needs me to come and get her or you need to kick her out blah blah blah. When they get home from dance they both love everything and are perfectly happy dance was great everything was great. Ugggghhhhh! So they slept in their own beds with no fort and no games and were asleep within minutes of their heads hitting the pillows. Hopefully today will be a better day! If not well there is a bottle of chilled vodka in the freezer..........And it is Friday.

Have a great day!