There are some universal truths in the Price household:

1)  The children are not allowed to take a bath with the husband anymore, because they have realized there is a difference between girl parts and boy parts.

2)  If you fall down, hurt yourself, or find yourself in any other perilous situation (except the URGENCY of needing a bug killed, let outside, or otherwise disposed of) you call the Mommie.

3)  If the husband runs bath water, there will be a 2 hour window between the bath and the final phase of "readiness" to leave the house.

4)  The husband is responsible for ALL cleaning of cars--whether he does it or has someone to come and do it for him.

5)  The wife cooks. Period. No questions.  Unless there is an argument going on in which the husband will make "noodles."

Now, those are the basics.  There are some others, but I'm still too taken aback by today's activities to go into that.  

Today Mr. Price did IT.  He got on the GRILL.  Yes.  Understand:  he cooked breakfast for the girls on my birthday, and I was uber impressed at that.  We have had a very event filled weekend, so we weren't even doing the whole "Memorial Day cookout" thing, but I woke up this morning with a hankering for some baked beans.  That's all I wanted.  So I had the bright idea of making baked beans, pasta salad, and turkey dogs and turkey burgers on our range top grill.  Everything went fine, until I went to turn the grill on.  There was the familiar "click, click, click" indicating a fire was SUPPOSED to be coming....but never a fire.  I told Peerless I was having a problem with the stove and he tinkered, and tinkered, and tinkered...and still didn't get it lit. 

At this point, I began prepping for regular old stove top burgers and dogs.  I mean, if we couldn't get it started, we just couldn't get it going.  Peerless, however, decided that we WERE having grilled food--one way or the other.  He went outside to our gas grill, cleaned it off, and said HE was going to cook the meat.  Ok.  Please refer back to the universal truth section. Please.  I HATE grilling.  I know how, but I ABHOR it.  With that in mind, the husband set his sights on our impromptu cookout, and....Well, look at the pictures!

The husband with oven mitts on, tending to the turkey dogs and turkey burgers...He has a serious fear of being burned by cooking fire...Please, don't ask.

Oh, I don't really think you can tell this man he is NOT the Grillmaster at this point.  The baby even looked on in amazement and said, "Daddy makin' my hot dog!?!?!?!?!"  Pretty much the sentiment of the entire crew.

Still at it.  Have you noticed, at all, the determination and seriousness of this man's face??? He was in a pretty somber mood all day, so he was all geared up to complete his serious job!!!

Meanwhile, the kids kept on their dressup clothes outside in the icky weather.  

These are their "silly faces."  You have to love it!

Here's Kai's OTHER silly face.
Mmmmmm.  The oldest girl's is the same.  Note:  this dressup is the SAME outfit she wore in Friday's recital.  She hasn't been separated from the shorts part of it since.  Can you say RIPE????

Peerless got so full of himself he felt he could sit back and chill while "his meat was on the grill."  Hilarious.

9 Little Girls.

So, as you guys know we spent last Friday night hosting a slumber party for 9 little girls.  It was the "unofficial" sleepover for our basketball team, and Caeden also invited a little girl from her class.  We had a really good time, no one cried (well, one little girl got hit in the eye by another accidentally, and she shed some tears, and one other little girl had her mom come and pick her up at like 11:30...., but other that that it WAS uneventful).  I thought I'd post a few pictures so you could see what a good time the girls had.  I'm really glad they had a chance to have the sleepover (although Saturday Peerless and I were in the bed EARLY).  Enjoy the pics!!!

Here's a shot of the girls all in the pool playing.  Pool time was NOWHERE in my well thought out agenda, but this is what they wanted to do, sooooo.....

Golf cart rides around the neighborhood was also not a part of the agenda, but somehow the Husband got suckered into "Driving Ms. Daisies" around on joy rides.  Now, I WARNED said Ms. Daisies that Mr. Price drove fast, but they didn't listen.  As I mentioned before: no one broke any bones, so that was all good.

The 9 having a blast!

Emma Grace, Kaleigh Hughes (I really think she's a Price), and Jettie Jones (who FINALLY talked to us!!!) waiting for Ms. Stephanie to bring a few bathing suits back.  When you don't know there will be swimming, you don't tell parents to bring bathing suits, and then you make due.  Thank GOD Stephanie and Richie live in our neighborhood and have two daughters. Between their swimming suits and Caeden's we made it.

Caeden and Maja.  Maja's originally from Germany and she has the CUTEST accent.

Kaleigh Hughes...BALLIN'!

The morning after.  These crazy girls were waiting on the golf cart for Peerless to come and drive them around AGAIN.  Gluttons for punishment.

Successful!

Just a quick note to say the sleepover was a success.  The girls all seemed to have had a really good time, and I'll post pictures from the night soon!!!

FUN STUFF!!!

My Noodle is SOOOO excited with her life right now!!!  We are having eight little girls over to spend the night tomorrow (seriously), and she is OVER THE MOON.  We had thought about doing this sleepover for quite some time,  and we were going to shoot for this weekend or next.  Next weekend was NOT going to work, and when heartbreak hit her this weekend AND things fell into place for tomorrow we knew the Big Guy was looking out for us.  I doubt you'll hear from me this weekend, but I will definitely let you know how it goes.

Mama Bear Mode...

Anyone, no EVERYONE who knows me or who reads my blog knows there are a few things you just do NOT mess with in my life.  Namely:  Peerless, Caeden, Kai, and Mimi.  I'd get down for anyone in my family, but these particular people are MINE, and I don't play when it comes to them.  With that being said, could someone please explain to me why I am on FIRE about my 8 year old having the most DEVASTATED feelings EVER right now?  One of her "friends" (Note:  if I was 8 years old I would beat the little girl who hurt my baby's feelings up on the playground. I swear.)  invited her to a birthday party on Sunday and then promptly informed her yesterday that she'd revamped her guest list, and Caeden wasn't  a part of it.  Now, don't get me wrong:  I don't expect Caeden to be invited to everyone's everything, but when you EXPRESSLY tell someone they're invited (actually you send an email explaining how your BESTIES and you can't WAIT for them to come) you just don't un-invite them on G.P.  

I'm sure some of you are amazed that I'm even addressing this topic, but understand this:  when you hurt my people, you hurt me, and I can cut DEEP!  It's taking all I have in me to not call this little mean girl's mama and give her a tongue lashing on behalf of the grown woman living inside of my 8 year old's body.  I won't though, because I am a WORK IN PROGRESS.  Understand, however, that (as the sam Un-inviter told Caeden at the beginning of the school year):  I am PISSED off!  (yes, an 8 year old said that to my child.)  Ugh!  When did children get SO mean????

DENIED!

Yesterday Caeden had her last soccer game for the Spring 2009 season.  She will be trying out for the Dacula Soccer Academy later in the month, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Now to the game:

The husband was not really feeling a Monday evening game.  The thought of the team going to school all day, playing around, and then having to come and perform on the soccer field afterward was just NOT a good idea to him.  Not to mention the fact that we were playing the team with the  best skill set we had seen all season.  We'd battled this team earlier in the season and were able to come back from a 4-0 deficit to win the game 6-4, but the comeback happened in the 4th quarter.  None of the parents on the team were looking forward to the game (not to mention our ENTIRE team.)  

The trepidation did NOT arise from the opposing team as a whole, it came from ONE player. One very large, outstanding, impressive, Freddie Adou (or however you spell it) type of gal.  Her name was "Denai" (pronounced 'deny').  Denai has a serious foot on her.  She can LITERALLY stand in the goal on one end of the field and kick the ball into the goal at the other end...SERIOUS skills.  She also has a very swift foot and is really a good ball handler.  Top all that with the fact that she is Manny Pacquiau tough, and about 5 feet tall, and you have a very tough opponent.  (Oh, by the way, did I mention that Denai was 6 years old?  Yup, she has to play up TWO years, because she dominated the 6 and 7 year olds she previously played with.

Now that the Denai stage has been set, we can discuss the other players on her team.  They are a very quick, well gelled machine.  It is apparent that their coach really works on their skills and focuses on them working together.  If I haven't gotten the point across: they are really A GOOD team.  A team we were NOT looking forward to playing.

Enter Monday afternoon.  I picked C up from school at 1:30, because I wanted to give her a chance to lie down before she hit the field.  At 4:50 we were all in the car headed to the game, geeked and ready to play!  ALL throughout P's football career we have had routines EVERY game day (same breakfast, same piece of luggage, etc.).  About midway through C's soccer season we began wearing a button emblazoned with her soccer picture on it.  We didn't wear said buttons yesterday (I'm convinced at this point that was mistake number 1).  Now I get to the business at hand....

First Quarter:  Our starters were Kerrigan at goalie, Big Meg, Caeden, Lil' Meg, and Ashlyn...  The other team?  4 little girls and Denai.  If you ever wanted to see a team spooked, all you needed to do was be present at our game, watch our girls' faces when they saw Denai walk onto the field, and there you'd have it!!!  I've never seen my child visibly shaken by the presence of another player, but I did on this day.  Whenever there would be a battle for the ball, and Denai was anywhere in the fold, CAEDEN was NOT! My Noodle was a NERVOUS mess! Her daddy sat beside me in a state of utter FRUSTRATION, because she was playing, well....BAD.  She was missing shots, backing down from the steal, not pressing--just OFF her game.  On a good note, her ENTIRE team was playing much the same way. It was sad.  Then IT happened:  Denai scored.  Spirits CRASHED. Then another girl on the opposition scored...and another....  They were up 2-0 in the 1st quarter!!!  And we were DEVASTATED going into the.....

Second Quarter:  Hmmm.... Much of the same.  Denai was NOT in the game!  The other team's coach's daughter was, however, in as goalie and she was a BEAST.  We put in Lil' Meg, Rebecca, Big Meg, Kerrigan, and Ashlyn as goalie.  I guess our spirits had been nearly crushed, because the first quarter activity continued, until on a pass from Rebecca, Lil' Meg scored.  Our girls just couldn't seem to gel.  There were some wide open shots that just kept being missed, more missed passes, consistent steals, and they just didn't look like themselves.  You could see the frustration on their faces, and it was a very dismal feeling over on the parent's sidelines.  I can honestly say, though, that we did NOT give up on cheering for our girls, and  I am proud to have been a Lightening parent yesterday!  Our game fell over into.....

HALFTIME:  Our entire team was on the bench having their pep talk in a snotty, boogery, crying FIT.  Caeden just had that one look on her face; the one that says, " one wrong look, and the waterworks will begin over here."  I saw Coach Mumme pull Caeden to the side, say something to her, saw Caeden's hands flailing as she said something back, and then she came and got her daddy to come onto the field and practice with her.  Peerless very bluntly told her he was about to play her like Denai, because he--by now--was EXTREMELY frustrated at the thought of her being afraid of an opponent.  They went onto the field and were--genuinely--two prize fighters at battle.  He then gave her a few words (I have NO clue what they were) and she trotted off to the bench, and that's when we began the....

Third Quarter:  Denai was back in. *SIGH*.  We played Caeden, Lil' Meg, Kerigan, Lauren, and Big Meg as goalie.  I won't drone on with the "more of the same" report, but that's what it was.  They were trying, but it just wasn't happening.  I hated to say it, but our undefeated season was being handed to us in a gift wrapped package.  It was sad, and I was kind of happy to get to the....

Fourth Quarter:  I'm guessing the other team knew they had it in the bag, because Denai was in the game as goalie.  I had seen her during warmups, and I leaned over and told my mom and P that her feet were better than her hands.  Nonetheless, our poor girls could only look in the goal and see this huge, impenetrable force.  We put Caeden, Rebecca,  and Ashlyn on offense, Big Meg down low to defend, and Lil' Meg in goal.  Somewhere a spirit of resilience came over our girls, and you could see a bit of a change in them.  About two minutes into the quarter, Caeden dribbled down the field, and scored.  At least we wouldn't have her streak in scoring broken, as well as her undefeated season.  A minute or two later, she scored AGAIN.  This brought the game to 4-3, US!  As the game continued, our parents continued cheering the girls on, and the other team became increasingly quiet.  Halfway through the quarter, Rebecca scored! 5-3!  The game continued, the other team was fighting, Denai was kicking the ball downfield--nearly getting it into the goal.  Meg and Meg were on the other end of the field defending our goal. Caeden, Becca, and Ashlyn were fighting to keep their lead, like fierce warriors, it was INTENSE.  Suddenly there's a battle going on for the ball, and Caeden emerged victorious.  She dribbled down the field, and SCORED yet, again!!! 6-3!  When the referee blew the whistle three times signaling the end of the game, our sidelines ERUPTED!!! Our girls were running into each other ELATED!!!  It was a scene straight from a movie!!!

I think once Caeden figured out that Denai wasn't as impenetrable as she first thought, something in her clicked.  She became that player she had been all through the season, and was ready to be a part of her team's comeback to defeat their own personal Goliath!  Yesterday was one of those games where you tell someone, "Let me tell you about the game on Monday....", and I just did.  Thanks for sharing in our victory!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  Many of us became mothers by birthing children, others became mothers because you bravely have stepped up to raise children who you didn't naturally give birth to, other became mothers by "imputation", and some of you are just all around fantastic women with a natural, maternal instinct that automatically makes this message applicable to you!! Have a wonderful day, and know that ALL you do is greatly appreciated!

ONE MORE THING!!!!

Don't watch Dancing With the Stars, ANYMORE!!! Lil' Kim got voted off, and that cowboy is still on it.  Now, I understand Kim looks a little scary to children (and to some adults--myself included), but let's face it:  the broad can DANCE.  If we're voting based on talent, there's NO reason Kim shouldn't still be dancing this coming Monday!!! Let's band together to show ABC and the rest of the fans that we are NOT standing for this bull!!! DON'T WATCH DWTS!  Thank you for your support!

I blame it on Eve....and Pullups training pants....

I just HAD to share this with you guys, because it gave me SUCH a laugh.

I've often times tried to figure out when in a relationship that certain sense of decorum goes out the window.   You know, ladies: when is it ok to tie your hair up around your significant other, put face cream on your face around him, pick that chicken sandwich with fries and a large coke over that soup and salad combo (as long as the soup doesn't have cheese it, in which case the cheese melts, gets on your lip, and dangles there while you sit trying to look coyly--yet innocently--at your beau...I digress...), anyway, you get the point.  The ULTIMATE question is: when do you let your significant other know that you do have natural bodily functions.  Like flatulence...or bowel movements... or urination. (Give me a break, folks--I'm trying to be as P.C. as this post will allow me to be.)

Soooo...my husband (depend on him for a periodic reality check) reminded me last night that even though people may have been together for 12 years,  there are still PLENTY of opportunities for straight on embarrassment.  

I was fresh out of the shower, lying in the bed, relaxing from the hustle and bustle of my day.  I was already stressed out and in pain (big ups to that heifer Mother Nature for deciding to come and visit), and BLAZING hot (the boy doesn't seem to feel the humidity in our bedroom is at 120%).  Here comes P, plopping down across my legs, head rested on my thigh, and ready for conversation.  We were having some random conversation when in the middle of his sentence my spouse--the same one I made some SERIOUS vows to--lifted his head, peered at my stomach (I thought), then looked me dead in my face, and said (in his Kai Baby like voice), "Mommie, you got on a pullup???"  Yes. He. Did.  It was all I could do to laugh, but I can honestly say that I was THOROUGHLY embarrassed that my husband--who I have children with--and with whom I have had my most intimate moments--knew that I had on a PAD.  Not even that I had on a PAD, but I had the nerve to have on one of those extra long, super thick, never leak, front to back, James Bond impenetrable, bulletproof, overnight pads.  

*awkward silence*...

So. Now. I. Know: The awkward moments never stop.  UNLESS YOU'RE A MAN in which case your exhibition of flatulence first thing in the morning is nothing more than a serenade dedicated to the night of sleep you just had.  The never ending battle of the sexes.  Curses!!!

Field Day Part 2

Husband running in the parent/teacher race.... He won.  Shocked? LOL.

Husband before the race....

Caeden and her classmates thought it would be fun to give him their "water" version of a Gatorade victory bath!

Caeden and her homie, EG, in the relay.  Both ran the anchor for their teams.

Noodle pushing it to the limit in the one lap race.  We tried to get her to sit out the next event. SHE WOULDN'T.  

Caeden, EG, and Kai Baby at Field Day.

Per Kembree's request (and thanks to my homegirl, Beth Martin at Lakeview) here are some pictures from Field Day at Caeden's school last week.  Please note her serious look on the picture where she's not in the lead. That was the 1 lap race...led the whole way, then cramped, got tired, and let up.  Big ups to Jackie (the little girl who won) for pacing herself.  We're coming for you next year, though, little girl!

Quick, happy notes...

Sometimes during the day I need something--anything--to make me smile.  Whether I've just been cut off in traffic, found out some not so good news, or just have a case of the "blahs" that I can't seem to shake.  In those times of perpetual "blahness" I look through pictures and inevitably end up smiling...Welllll, I thought I'd share a couple of smiles with you.  Hope you're having a great day!

Here are (respectively) KB trying on Caeden's clothes (no, C didn't give her permission), Caeden helping to bake a sweet potato pie at Mimi's, and Mia Hamm--I mean Caeden--about to give the BUSINESS to someone's children!

This girl is FOR REAL....

I KNOW you guys think I exaggerate when I talk about Caeden's athletic ability.  I KNOW you all think I make things up to make her seem better than what she is.  I KNOW it.  But guess what? I'M NOT JOKING.  This child is FOR REAL.  I have NEVER met a child who naturally exudes athletic ability like C does!!!

Take today for instance, Mimi, Peerless, Kai Baby, and I all went up to the school for Field Day.  I remembered how much fun field day was when I was growing up, but I somehow forgot how Field day gave you the ULTIMATE bragging rights.  You could LITERALLY walk away as the fastest kid in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. grades.  In my old age I somehow allowed these important details to go straight out of my head.

I was reminded of this notion today.  My child signed up for, and competed in EVERY single event in field day.  I won't try to say she placed 1st in EVERY event, but let's do the tallying:

50 Yard dash:  1st Place

Sack Race:  1st Place

4x1 Relay:  1st Place *please believe she was the anchor

100 meter dash: 2nd  Place

1 Lap race: 2nd Place

Victorious in 3rd grade tug of war

She didn't place in the three legged race or the piggyback race, but she had fun, so I'm just as happy for her.  She is unbelievable, I tell ya.  She was in 1st place the entire way through the one lap race, and then she got a cramp, got tired, and eased up.  

She also had a personal victory in the form of her dad.  He was a field day "parent volunteer", and he also participated in the teacher/parent race.  One guess what he placed...jogging at a comfortable pace....still 1st.  You gotta love sports!