What happens at Fight Club stays at Fight Club

Jason went to the ER for the second time in a month today. He claims
he hit his head trying to cut a lock off a student's instrument
locker. Sounds sketchy to me. He has stitches in his forehead and a
black eye. I'm starting to think that he's secretly joined a fight
club of some kind.

Puddles

Saturday was the Serendipity Children's Festival held each year at
our Montessori school here in Georgetown. There are always arts and
crafts activities, children's musicians, and vendors showing off
organic gardening stuff, recycling info, and this year there was
someone demonstrating a solar powered backpack. Please don't ask me
why you would need a "powered" backpack at all...although if you
needed a powered backpack, it would be handy to have a solar powered
one, I guess. Jason had volunteered to flip burgers while Evelyn and
Willa played on the playground and Mary Grace ran around with her
buddies. It had rained a ton the day and morning before the
festival, but the sun came out right as things were getting started,
so it was cool but sunny...a perfect day to be outside.

While I was watching Evelyn and Willa climbing and sliding, I looked
over and noticed that some children were playing in some of the
puddles on the playground. They were taking their shoes off, and
enjoying the feeling of the cold, slightly muddy water in between
their toes. I remember that feeling. Being a kid is so cool
sometimes. I saw that Mary Grace was over there, and had hiked up
her track pants so they didn't get wet. She and her little girl
friends looked so cute playing. I went back to watching Evelyn and
Willa, and in the space of about three minutes, the sweet child-like
exploration of the playground puddle had turned into some kind of
Lord of the Flies mud-fest. My sweet little girl was leading a group
of girls taking a running start and attempting to belly-flop into the
biggest of the mud pits. I just rolled my eyes. They were so
happy. No one was getting wet who didn't want to get wet, and I did
stop her from tempting anymore children (especially other little
girls in their sweet sundresses) into the puddle. Then I heard
someone say, "If my child did that, I would just kill her." Really?
For getting dirty? Were the girls making a slight spectacle of
themselves at a public event? Yes. Were they being mean or
destructive? Nope. I let them play until they started throwing mud
at each other, then walked Mary Grace home (no way was I letting her
get in my car), hosed her off in the backyard, and put her in a hot
bath. I wondered briefly if I should have stopped her sooner, or
reprimanded her for getting so dirty at such a public event, but I
just couldn't figure out why I would do that. She told me later that
this was the best day ever. Mary Grace, I love you...My sweet,
spirited, muddy girl.

Poor Willa, Sweet Brandon!

My sweet Willa kept everyone awake last night screaming at the top of
her lungs. The phrase "cry herself to sleep" doesn't apply to this
child. When she was a baby, she hated riding in the car,and on
several occasions she cried all the way to Dallas or Houston without
stopping. I'm not exaggerating. So last night was painful for
everyone, and especially painful for Willa. It turns out she has a
horrible ear infection. Our pediatrician says we can look forward to
"pussy drainage" in the days to come. Bummer.

On a happier note, we had a really wonderful visit last weekend with
our new nephew, Brandon!! He was born on Tuesday, April 7, 9lbs, 1oz
(that's one ounce more than his big brother Daniel)! He's an
amazingly easy-going baby. I only heard him cry twice in the four
days I was with him, and both times I think he was just cold. So
he's like his Auntie - he doesn't like to be cold. Everything else,
he can deal with. Can't wait to see him again.

Boys are dumb.

So this is the birthday update. After I went to bed, Jason went outside to hang out with his buddies who live on our street. It's pretty much exactly like King of the Hill. A bunch of guys in front of the house drinking beer and talking about their yards and sports. So these geniuses decide at midnight that they need to know which of them is "the fastest." Keep in mind that we have no street lights in our neighborhood so it's very dark. These olympic athletes line up and start running. Did I mention that my husband is BAREFOOT? So he trips and eats it on the asphalt. I am awakened from my beauty sleep and go into the bathroom where Jason is bleeding everywhere. Hands, face, knees, feet. I become horribly nauseous and start to black out. Am I Scarlet O'Hara or something?!? (You don't want me around in an emergency.) Once I recovered, I got to wake up all the girls, put them in the car, and am now sitting outside the ER waiting for the birthday boy. Awesome.

Daddy's Birthday!

We just had Jason's birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant, La
Margarita. We had a great time. The girls ate queso with their
fingers, I had flautas and avocados, and Jason ate a whole lot of all
kinds of stuff (enchiladas, tacos, refried beans, etc.) Jason is
supposed to be putting the girls to bed right now, but I suspect that
he has fallen asleep in their room. One of my presents to him will
be to not go wake him up for awhile. Mary Grace gave Jason a set of
badly needed bungee cords. Evelyn and Willa gave him car air
fresheners (also badly needed). I gave him a hammock and stand for
the backyard. He loves his laying-around-in-the-backyard time in the
summer, so it should be well used. We had cheesecake with candles in
it when we got home. Mary Grace ate about half a piece and said,
"It's so yummy but it's making my stomach hurt. I don't think I
should eat anymore." Wise girl.