Not me Monday!

We were NOT that family driving to St. Louis with our mini van windows painted with crazy sayings and flags flying to support our UNI Panthers in the Sweet 16.  We were NOT honking and waving like crazy people to every other Panther fan we saw on the road either. That would NOT be like the Clayberg family.

We definitely did NOT have two children who were so distraught after the Panthers lost that the section attendant came down from her perch to console our children making us feel like uncaring parents. Or maybe she just came down to shoo us away since we definitely were NOT the last ones milling around trying to get our sobbing children to leave.  I’m sure she did NOT want to get out of there and go home since it was nearly 11:30 pm.

After we finally got our children to leave, I did NOT stop to use the restroom and leave a pair of binoculars sitting on top of the toilet paper holder.  NOT me!  I am way too “together” to ever leave something behind.  My mom and dad NEVER make fun of me for it either!

Our children did NOT continue to cry the entire 4 block walk to the parking garage and all the way back to the hotel either.  It’s probably what saved Aaron from killing me for leaving behind the binoculars! These things would NEVER happen to us.

It was definitely NOT me who had to pry the gripped little fingers of a child who was crying and clinging to a railing and refusing to go up in the St. Louis Arch.  I would NEVER insist that he still go up in the little pod 630 feet in the air even though the attendant told us we could get our money back, and I’m terrified of heights myself.  NOT me!  NOPE, NO WAY!  He also did NOT cry the ENTIRE TIME we were at the top of the Arch insisting we go back down NOW!  That would just be unheard of!

We did NOT then take our two underage children on a “science field trip” to the brewery.  That would just be WRONG!  While on the tour I would NOT have taken “blackmail” pictures of my children hiding their noses in their sweatshirts because they couldn’t stand the smell.  I will NOT pull these out the first time they are caught drinking to remind them of their distaste for the smell of beer.

It was NOT my children who were innocently playing catch in the hotel pool with another little boy until some older girls in bikinis hopped in.  My children did NOT then innocently wiggle their way into the girls’ game with a beach ball and ditch the little boy they were playing with.  My boys would NEVER do such a thing.  Their father was also NOT proud of them for doing this.  He had NO idea the girls had even entered the pool.  NOPE, his eyes were closed! 

It was also NOT us who were so rudely roused from bed at 6:00 am because the fire alarm was going off in the hotel. It was also NOT raining outside at the time.  Aaron would NEVER have just peeked out the room door and said, “There’s no smoke.  Go back to bed!  We’re NOT going outside! If we need to tie bed sheets together to climb out the windows we will!”  So, we did NOT just climb back into our beds to get cozy while the fire trucks roared up to the front of the hotel.  NOT us! We believe in safety over sleep and comfort!

While at TGI Friday’s my son did NOT think he was eating “baby BAT ribs” instead of baby back ribs.  Aaron and I did NOT have tears running down our faces and nearly wet our pants from laughing so hard at him.  That just would NOT be right to laugh so hard at your children, especially in such a public place.  He did NOT then insist that he was a little wigged out by chewing on a pig bone after we re-explained to him what he was eating.  It didn’t bother him to be eating “baby bat ribs” though J

These things would NEVER happen to our family on a weekend road trip.  We are far too CALM, and NORMAL for these crazy things to happen! 

Anyone want to join us the next time around? 

Arch

The St. Louis Arch is a must when you're in town according to Aaron - regardless of how deathly terrified you are of heights.  Of course, if it were up to me, we could easily skip this part of the trip.  If you have to go higher than two steps on a ladder, it's not for me :)  Apparently it's not for Austin either! 

Aaron was intent on getting us all up in the silly, skinny, sky high in the clouds, swaying Arch that I was sure was a death trap.  However, knowing Austin is a bit fearful of heights himself, I thought I'd better attempt to hide my anxiety of taking part in this experience. I thought I was doing a pretty good job remaining calm and supposedly unaffected in front of the kids. Once Austin started talking in the 3rd person, I knew I was going to have to "suck it up" even more. 

This is what we heard REPEATELY from Austin for about 30 minutes before having to get in the death defying capsule to ascend  in the Arch.  "Austin's not going in the Arch. He will just stay with the security guard until you all come down. Nope, he's not going. Austin refuses to go up!"  I didn't realize how serious he was until we got to the point of having to load in the pod. He gripped the railing to the steps and refused to let go.  Of course, everyone was looking at us and trying to help explain to him that it would be okay.  The lady loading the pods told us this happens all the time, and we could get a refund if necessary. 

However, mother-of-the-year award, here I come.  I gave Aaron my purse and coat, dug in my stubborn heels, peeled Austin's fingers off the railing that he was clinging for dear life to and carried him to the pod with what feels like the entire world staring at us.  I have no idea what in the world I was thinking - I'd take that refund for Austin and I in a heartbeat! I wanted nothing to do with this whole thing anyway! Carter and Aaron could head up, and Austin and I would be happy as larks hanging out at the museum and gift shop. I'm not one to give up very easily though. Once we were loaded in, tears were flowing from both boys. Carter's tummy hurt and Austin buried his head in his sweatshirt and sobbed.  By the time we made it to the top, Carter was fine, but Austin was definitely not.  He cried the entire time at the top and clung to me for dear life begging to go back down immediately.  Again, why didn't I just take the refund and call it good? Hard to believe someone offered to take our picture with a crying child while we were at the top :)  I promised him this is the only one I would post - there are TONS more!

After our feet were firmly planted back on the ground, Carter raved about how amazing it was and wanted to go back up. Austin admitted that maybe it really wouldn't be so bad if he had to go again, and maybe he would actually look out the windows.  UGH!  Really?  After all that?  He had much more fun laying on the grass underneath the Arch to look up and take pictures! Here's the one he likes the most because you can see the windows that you look from at the top of the Arch - which of course he got nowhere close to :)

Bittersweet

"Hail our Panthers, we are every loyal..." Even though the Panthers lost to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 last night, it was a magical night here in St. Louis as a part of March Madness. The amount of purple and gold throughout the dome was unbelievable. We easily had the most fans to cheer on our team. Unfortunately cheering alone couldn't get the Panthers to the Elite Eight. 

After the game, two little boys had their hearts crushed.  Tears were flowing for each of them, so much so that one of the attendants came down from her perch to try and comfort them as EVERYONE else in our section had already left.  It was one of those life lesson moments for Aaron and I as we tried to explain the great run UNI has had this year, and that simply making it to the Sweet 16 is an amazing accomplishment. It's thrilling to share in the excitement, but in life, things don't always go your way. Of course, when you've endured a 6 hour car trip, enjoyed a pep rally, watched and cheered wildly during 2 really exciting games, and it's 11:30 pm, crushed little hearts don't heal quickly :(

However, Saturday is a new day in which we'll have loads more fun in St. Louis!

Meet me in St. Louis

What a day it's been already! We've made it to St. Louis to cheer on our Panthers in the Sweet 16 tonight. The boys were amazed as we were driving and encountering MANY UNI fans :) It's hard NOT to know where you are headed and what you will be doing when your vehicle looks like this!



Everyone was honking and waving the entire way here. The boys thought maybe we were celebrities! I assured them that just because my license plates say "Queenie" doesn't really mean anything!

We just finished up at the pep rally at Union Station! I think the boys were overwhelmed by the amount of people and the noise. For once, mom and dad weren't telling them "be quiet"! We're decked out with posters and ready for a great game tonight! Now...if I could just find a big Ali Farokhmanesh head I'd be happy as a clam :)



UNI FIGHT! UNI FIGHT!

Sweet 16

GO PANTHERS!

We are getting ready to head out for a fun trip to the Sweet 16 in St. Louis to cheer on our UNI Panthers! We are all very excited to hit the road and join in the excitement of March Madness. Best of luck to the Panthers tonight!

Celebrate!

We had two big events we ended up celebrating this past weekend. One was the UNI Panthers HUGE win over the Kansas Jayhawks! Woo Hoo! Aaron and I have always been proud alums of UNI, but now maybe our "Harvard of the Midwest" will get a bit more of the respect they deserve :) We'll be in St. Louis cheering them on in the Sweet 16 this weekend! Everyone else's March Madness brackets may be a mess, but not mine!

The other thing we were celebrating was Papa's 60th birthday! Yes, it was a few weeks ago, but this was the weekend that worked for all of us to get together for some fun family bonding! Just ask my brother, he LOVES family bonding :) We started our Saturday afternoon together at Adventureland Inn.



The four grandsons were thrilled to be able to b-bop back and forth between three different pools. The only rule was they had to be up in the room with us while the Panthers were playing so we could all watch the game! Mom and I quickly took them down to the pool again at halftime and then scurried to round them back upstairs for the second half. After a raucous celebration after the sweet victory, Mom, Kasie and I took the 4 boys back down to the pool. The men seemed to be glued to the basketball games and didn't seem to mind that we took the kids :)





My boys were definitely ready to drop after we ordered some pizza and everyone settled into their own rooms. However, they were rip roaring ready to go back to the pool the next morning. They spent some more time swimming before we headed for brunch and then some shopping and bowling at Bass Pro Shop. Needless to say, this was right up all the men's alleys, as well as the four little boys! As you can see, they have great taste in toys!



It was a wonderful end to spring break for the boys and I. Thanks so much to Papa and Grandma Di for the opportunity to get everyone together for a memorable weekend! We love you so much! And I'm so glad my brother was able to spend quality time with me :)

Go Cart (er)

As part of Carter's birthday present, Grandma Ween and Doug had planned to take Carter to America's Incredible Pizza for a fun-filled day. Since spring break was the logical time to be able to go, he'd been counting down the days until March 18 when Grandma was going to take him. We have never been there before, so the anticipation was driving him crazy. He told me it was going to be "the best day ever!" He was most excited to drive the go-carts. The entire morning before she picked him up, he told me his goal was to beat Doug in a go-cart race. Here they are getting ready for the big showdown!





Since Carter came home with two ribbons for winning the go-cart races, I'd say he was successful! He absolutely LOVED this part of the day since they had an announcer while they were racing telling what lap they were on and who was leading! He tells me that during one of his races he had the fastest go-cart and was lapping everyone! What a happy little guy that made him!

There were also bumper cars to have fun with.



He also spent a good chunk of time playing games trying to beat Grandma Ween and Doug every time! Look at the intensity on their faces :)



Games of course meant tickets to be collected.



He came home with fun little trinkets he was now proud to own for all his efforts. It was a terrific day for him to get to spend some one-on-one time with Grandma Ween and Doug - one that I'm sure he'll remember for a long time! Thanks guys for a great birthday gift and a memorable day!

A math problem for you

this



+ this



= ?

Do you have your answer yet? Don't peek at the answer until you do! We teachers call that cheating!



IT'S SPRING BREAK :) YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yes, the English teacher, who gave you a math problem, knows that it's not necessary or even correct to put that many ! after YIPPEE.) However, these are my honest feelings in the midst of budget time and pink slips. It was a much needed break for many of us.

After a week of conferences last week, I spent a little time shopping for scrapbooking supplies for a weekend crop time with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and paint to breathe new life into the basement. Aaron and I spent Thursday night and Friday morning painting a portion of the basement before I left for my cropping weekend. It was my justification that if I did a little of the messy work first, play time would be much more relaxing!

I spent Friday, Saturday and a tish of Sunday with Ween and Kelly in a cropping fest. We had so much fun preserving memories while at the same time creating new ones. Our weekend was filled with a hobby that we all love, good conversation, girl bonding, and little sleep! Aaron laughs at me because I normally turn into a pumpkin quite early, but not when it's scrapbooking time :) Thanks girls for a great start to my break!

While I was gone, Aaron continued with some home improvements in the kitchen. (I'm glad I wasn't around for that process.) He's a really intelligent guy sometimes :) The boys enjoyed the hanging around the neighborhood and just chillin'.

After I got home, we spent all Sunday afternoon and evening finishing off the painting of the basement. It looks so nice and now it's time to rearrange and declutter so it's more of a family room than a kid's room! I'll post some pics after it's all done.

What I really should be doing though is this...



Grading those darn essays I made the kids write and turn into me before spring break. WHAT WAS I THINKING???

Cousins

Some of my favorite memories from growing up were spending time with my cousins. It was such a treat when we got to spend time together, especially those who lived out of state and only were able to visit once a year. I want my boys to have enjoyable memories and quality time with all of their cousins.

This weekend, we got to have the Doering cousins spend the night and hang out at our house. What fun it has been for all of us! The boys started Friday night by shooting some hoops at the neighbor's house. You can tell it's been a long and cold winter when the boys aren't bundled up in their heavy coats, it's 35 degrees, snow is surrounding them and they are complaining that they are hot! I have to laugh when you look at the picture and see all the snow still surrounding them :) What's a little snow to boys who are dying to be outside playing basketball.



It was all I could do to get them in the house to eat supper.





We played some games.



Then it was time to wind down for the night. Sweet dreams sweet boys!









Morning rolled around and the fun began again!





You know they've played hard when the day ends like this :)



Thanks for a fun time guys! We'll have to do it again :)

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Okay...this is my first time participating in Not My Child! Monday! However, this is SO appropriate for my crazy life in the past week I just had to share. Enjoy!

It was NOT me who decided to try and "break in" a new babysitter last week while we were out of town for the night. It was not MY child who ATE the paper our phone number was written down on when the babysitter was having issues with getting the children to bed. It was NOT my child who proceeded to tell the new sitter there were spooks upstairs so she wouldn't go to the other location I wrote the phone number on. No, NOT my children!

It was also NOT my children who were still up at 11:00 pm when we got home because they refused to go to bed and the sitter couldn't call me. MY children would NEVER do such things! It was NOT my children who only ate popcorn, m&m's and a bag of licorice that night for supper. My children ONLY eat healthy nutritious foods that help their bodies grow and had no idea that I had left deli meat and fruit for their supper! It simply COULDN'T have been MY children who have probably scared off that sitter from ever babysitting for ANY child again. No, NOT MY CHILDREN!

I DIDN'T marry someone who used to do such treacherous things to his babysitters. My husband NEVER chained himself to the front porch because he didn't want to go somewhere. He also did NOT write a note to his sitter one time telling her that he had run away and then hid in the closet. No, NOT my hubby! Hmmm...it's no wonder the above children were NOT MINE :)

It was also NOT my child who was so excited to go tubing at Seven Oaks this past weekend and then proceeded to cry at the top of the hill for almost 30 minutes in front of tons of people because he was terrified to go down. No, it SIMPLY DIDN"T HAPPEN that he refused to go down the hill until finally he had to go to the bathroom and realized that was the ONLY way he was going to get down! Nope, NOT MY CHILD! It was NOT my child whose hat then flew off going down the hill and made some poor soul retrieve it for him. My husband did NOT lose his glove while trying to help out said child and agree to do this whole process without me. It was NOT this same child who then proceeded to go down the hills loving every stinkin' minute of it after the whole spectacle at the top of the hill and then had to show off his "tubing pass" the entire next day! NOT MY CHILD! It simply WOULDN'T happen in my calm and organized life with perfectly angelic children!

There's a reason I'm chronicling the chaos!