Was it that funny?

There are times when your child gets so worked up in the moment and begins to throw the biggest fit and just won't stop...and it is during those times, as a mother, that you think it is kind of funny.

Looking back...was it really that funny?

If I were to tell you that this reaction was over that hat, does it make it funny now?

I thought so!

School Uniforms

St. John's Episcopal School has just added for next year that the Pre-School kiddos should wear uniforms. They are delightful, really. White or red golf shirt with navy bottoms and tennis shoes. They can also buy St. Johns sweats and T Shirts. As a Mommy, I am thrilled. One less thing I do not have to think about. But as BEN'S MOMMY, I am nervous. You see, Ben ONLY wears his nylonish basketball shorts and a white T Shirt with a pocket in the front.

So I was flipping through the Land's End School Uniform catalog while Ben was having his snack and I hopefully opened the book to the page with the darling school aged boy wearing his bright blue monogrammed golf shirt and said, "See Ben? When you go to St. John's you get to wear golf shirts like this one. Isn't that nice? Do you see how cute and happy this boy is in his golf shirt?" To which Ben replied, "YESSS! I like that golf shirt." So I asked him, "Do you know what a golf shirt is?" After looking into his blank blue eyes for a minute, I realized he didn't. "Do you want me to show you a golf shirt in your closet?" He jumped up and ran to his closet and yelled, "I have a golf shirt!?!? Show me!" We got to the closet and pulled out his darling, yet now dusty, navy blue polo shirt and I held it out for him. "See...this is a golf shirt. Isn't it cool?"

Ben's response: "I am NOT wearing THAT!"

For those of you at home keeping score: Ben 1 Mommy 0

At least he can wear a white golf shirt. Here's hoping!

Summer Challenge: VEGAN Day 3

I quit.

Oprah and her team of thousands to drag her a$$ out of bed and feed her have won.

Celebrating tonight with yogurt. Tomorrow is lunch meat.

Stay Tuned for Summer Challenge: POTTY TRAINING, Summer Challenge: BEN FINALLY WEARS SOMETHING OTHER THAN A WHITE T SHIRT WITH POCKETS, and Summer Challenge: ALLISON GOES TO 10 DAYS OF BOOTCAMP WITHOUT MISSING ONE DAY.

We'll call him "Chef!"

Ben and I had a lovely day. Yesterday we were at the Country Club pool forever, so I declared today a "NO WATER" day. We ran errands, played with our sand table, ate popcicles and fried okra...all things summer glorious!

By the end of today Ben was sleepy. So he crawled up in my lap and laid his head down for what I thought was going to be some memorable "cuddle time". I started flicking through the channels and stopped at the Food Network. He's dozing right? I can get a few minutes of cooking show time in.

Ben immediately popped his head up and SCREAMED, "RACHAEL RACH! Mommy! Mommy! That's RACHAEL RACH! She's cookin'! Watch her, Mommy! RAAAAACHAELLLL RAAAACH!"

Um...whoops. I am busted for subjecting my child to the Food Network. But no one was home so it was my little secret. Or so I thought....

Fast forward to later tonight...Kevin and Ben are at the grocery store picking up some milk and a few things from Mommy's list and they turn down the "utility" aisle. You know the aisle with the mops and brooms and detergents and things like that. Ben grabs a little scrubber brush and begins to diligently clean the cart all the while "sing songy" to his Daddy..."I am RAAACHAELLLL RACH!!!!!!!"

Now I am busted.

Summer Challenge: VEGAN

As promised, I have committed to my first day of the first challenge of the summer : Challenge Vegan. Um...me NO likey!

Now before I begin my rundown of the day, I'll provide you all a little background. About once every 5 or 6 years I physically can not eat meat for about 2 or 3 days. It is not some freakish allergic reaction, it is just that once in a while it hits me: I am eating a dead animal. And it freaks me out. I start thinking about the whole "process" of the animal from the farm to my plate and I just can't even choke it down. Now do not misunderstand me - it is not "sympathy" I feel. I don't cry for Old MacDonald's animals' lifespan. It just becomes...well, GROSS. And then I crave a big side of beef and I am way over it for another 5 to 6 years. The more frequent hault of animal protein is normally with chickens. You want to talk about gross - birds, in general, repulse me with how dirty they are and the chicken is their king! But, I digress...

My point to that whole paragraph devoted to my bizarre eating habits was to make the point that I am not a slave to the animal protein and this isn't THAT big of a leap for me. OR SO I THOUGHT...

So this was Oprah's Vegan Blog for today...

"Week One: Wednesday I just cleaned my dinner plate, down to the last grain of brown rice left under my oh-so-deliciously seasoned soy chicken. I can not believe how tasty, spicy and wonderful it all was. I'm ever more surprised at how I don't miss anything and feel so satisfied at every meal. Bravo to Tal! By Day 4, I'm usually climbing the walls or craving sweets—or ready to throw in the towel on any other diet plan. I'm a little nervous about the weekend. Tal cooks our last meal for the week tomorrow, and I've got to go to Las Vegas for Tina and Cher. Vegas and vegan don't seem to mix. — Oprah " (From Oprah.com)

Bravo to Tal!?!?! See, that's the problem...her chef Tal is not at my house. I am the one trying to make black bean cakes for myself, baked penne with bolganese sauce for Kevin and ANYTHING that Ben will eat. No surprise, my black bean cakes took the back burner and I settled on a really delightful, self created black bean salad with olive oil, lime juice and zest, green onions, tomato and seasoned with S & P, cayenne, chili, cumin and garlic. It was tres delightful - FOR A SIDE DISH! The rest of the day was no better. I choked down some oatmeal for breakfast while I stood at the refrigerator door in tears, while promising my Yo Plus yogurt that if it would not go bad in a couple of days I would be back to devour it all in one meal. Lunch was a salad - which is what I have typically been eating the past couple of months, so no big deal.

The biggest problem I see with this whole "Vegan for no reason" Challenge is this: it is going to cause me to gain the 20 lbs that I have lost back because I am too focused on not eating animal products. For example: Ben and I were having our snack today and I caught myself finishing off his gummy bears - TOTALLY vegan. Then I turned to his Twizzlers - Hurray! More vegan items. It's not good for the waistline.

Tomorrow's goal is to take my challenge more seriously. After tomorrow, I can't promise I won't be in the closet with my yogurt.

Hilton Head Photos

As promised here are my photos from Hilton Head. I am jonesing to go back in the worst way!

Enjoy

Oh Blogging Is Frustrating!

So, I have done something within my blog that now allows it to be "searchable" on the internet by my name and by blog title. It is something in the code within the site due to something I have actually added...so...UGH! I have gone thru great lengths since starting this whole adventure to have this NOT happen...but now it has. And please don't email me the different ways to have it removed from Google, because my only option left is to contact Google directly to have the URL removed. Lovely!

That said, when I write about some of you I always try to keep it to first names only so that you are not exposed to web hell and I will continue to be diligent in that area going forward. If at anytime you read a post and you are not happy with your name being out there in webland, just shoot me an email and I will delete the post or change the names to protect the innocent.

And yes...I am calling Google!

In Their Words...

Here is the email update that we recieved from "Camp Ron" late last night. I am not sure if he wrote it, or if Kim or Brenda wrote it...but here is the surgery recap in their words!


What a glorious day today has been!! Our day began arriving at MDA at 5:15 AM for admission for an up to 7 hour surgery involving 3 surgerons to cover all possible complications. They began at 7:28. The first update was just before 10 only 2 1/2 hours later when we were told that the surgery was over and the tumor was removed. The doctor spoke to us about 45 minutes later with the news that "we were dealt with the best hand of cards possible". No complications! The tumor was out, about a foot of intestine and a second small suspecious spot were removed. Ron would be in recovery for the night.

God had certainly honored our and your prayers BUT He was still at work......... In 4 hours Ron was moved to a private room since he was alert and upon my arrival began taking on his cell and wanting his laptop. NO Pain-- mega drugs but very alert.

The last thing the primary surgeon had said yesterday as we were leaving our appointment was "the Lord and I will take care of him." That is exactly what HE did.

Tomorrow will be a new day and we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Brenda and Ron

Summer Challenge

I've been feeling a little "stuck" the past few weeks. Not "stuck" solely in the physical or metaphysical sense, but somewhere in between. I caught myself looking way to forward to my trip to Hilton Head and now that I am home, I am counting the days to my 10 Year Anniversary Trip with Kevin in August. So...in an effort to not "wish away" this summer, I have devised a Summer full of challenges for myself. Here goes:

Challenge #1: Oprah's gone Vegan, y'all - and not just "kind of" vegan..I mean Sister has given up gluten and caffeine as well. Well, in an effort to challenge my inner Oprah, I am going to do the same. Whoa - wait a minute...before you all start emailing me how crazy I am, let me clarify. 1) This is a CHALLENGE. I am supposed to push myself. 2) I am NOT doing it for 21 days like she is...I am going to do 4! That's right - 4! Because my goal is to do it RIGHT and include Kevin in the dinner process. I mean we can all be vegan on Cheetos and caffeine free Coke. Thus, the 4 days - that's enough!

Challenge Vegan starts Tuesday May 27th and lasts through Friday May 30th.

It is going to be interesting to say the least.

A little bit of the trivial after a trying day...

So today was tense...read my post below for the details. It ended great, but Kevin and I are mentally exhausted.

That said, I can't not comment on the fact that American Idol is over. After my constant "oohing" and "ahhing" over my new found love of the cheesiest show in America, I just can't let the end come and NOT comment...

But like I said, I am tired.

So I will direct you to my friend Leslie's site...she said it all and then some!

Leslie's American Idol Recap with guest commentary by ME!

Ron's Surgery

Hello all! I am so happy to post today that Ron's surgery went extremely well! It was a much shorter surgery than they had anticipated and the tumor has been removed. Ron is already in a room out of ICU and is doing very well! He was allowed his cell phone and Kevin tried to call him a little while ago and he was already chatting away with friends to deliver the good reports!

Obviously we will know more as time progresses: Did the tumor spread? Did they get it all? Things like that. Of course we all know that the answer to those questions respectively are NO! and YES! But it will be nice to hear it confirmed by the doctors.

Kevin and I would like to take this time to thank ALL of you for your continued thoughts, prayers and supports thus far and if we're not getting greedy, we'd like to ask that you keep it up!

We love you all!
The Bredemeyers Three

While "Brangelina" and Star Jones were in Cannes...

I was on Hilton Head Island!

and OH what a glorious place it is. This was my first trip to HHI, and it is by far now one of my favorite places on Earth. The beaches are amazing...a luxurious mix of delicate white sand that eases into packed, wet sand reminiscent of wet concrete. The tides comes up at night and then back out in the morning and leaves these delightful tide pools along the shore that are chalk full of seashells still with their creatures.

Brittney and Sharla and I stayed at Brittney's parents' condo on the beach and it was the most beautiful vacation home I have ever seen. Mrs. D. lovingly decorated the entire condo in "Beach Chic" and no detail was left unattended.

The trip was exactly as you would expect from the three of us. Lots of sun, more gossip, even more laughter....someone spent too much money, someone drank too much one night, someone ate their weight in seafood one night (sadly, all three might have been me, but I'll let you wonder!)- but we all agreed that our little respite was way overdue!

We have great pictures and once I go through them all, I'll post a little slide show!

Special shout out to Mike and Susan D. for letting us hang at their house for a long weekend and to Brittney for putting it all together.

Sic 'em Bears!

Update on Ron

Well, the day is upon us. Ron will finally have surgery to remove his tumor on Thursday at the wonderful MD Anderson in Houston. Please see his note below and we ask kindly for all of your prayers and good thoughts in the coming days.

The big week has finally arrived. We are in Houston for a week of tests, doctor's visits, and SURGERY on Thursday morning. The tumor (if there are any remains) will be removed, biopsied and studied, as well as my complete insides.

We are excited to see what God has done. Please stay in prayer for:

1. Sucessful surgery with no complications
2. Quick, painfree recovery and return to Abilene
3. No signs of any cancer activity internally
4. Safety for Brenda as she commutes back and forth to the hotel

You all have been so faithful to pray, send words of encouragement, and those have sustained us and minimized the effects of chemo thus far. For this we are extremely blessed and eternally grateful. We have seen God at work in so many ways during this whole process.

May the Lord bless each of you who have been so faithful and encouraging to us.

Resting in His Lap,
Ron and Brenda

Ben does NOT love school...

My child is an overachiever. He's a perfectionist. His only goal is to surpass a standard that he alone has created in his head. And I am scared for him. Life is full of disappointments and plenty of "let downs" that happen completely organically and I would hate for him to make it that much harder on himself by setting his level of excellence that is impossible to acheive. Or even worse: making himself sick trying to reach it. I tell you all of this because my little introverted overachiever has a hard time adjusting to "school." The balance between being social and being perfect is an impossible task to master and he wasn't yet up to the challenge.

We went to Mother's Day Out at Young Children's World which is at Highland Church of Christ and I have to tell you all - this place is amazing. Teacher Amber and Teacher Heather totally rock and it broke my heart to have to pull him out in March due to some severe separation issues. Ben was waking up in the middle of the night crying and screaming, "Please don't make me go to school." Convinced it was total seperation, I pulled him out without even thinking twice about it...but now seeing his "determination" to complete tasks perfectly, I can see that it is alot more than that.

That said, Kevin and I have done some research on "schools" and we have decided to leave Young Children's World and go to St. John's Episcopal School. They have this new 2 year old program and with me being a part of the SJES alumni and us being members of Heavenly Rest, I am pretty elated with the decision. We took a tour last week and I think Ben will thrive intellectually for sure, and I am hoping the "social" aspect just kind of evolves naturally into something he will enjoy. It is full on "Pre School" which for him will be great, but for me - well, I am a little sad. It is 3 days a week from 8 until 3 in the afternoon and I was really on the fence about letting him do that. I just kept feeling like he was too young to have "that much school". And then my sweet Grandmother and my husband both pointed out something that was completely mind blowing to me. It was so simple and right before my face that I couldn't believe I had never thought of it: "What about kids his age who are in pre-school full time because their mommies work?" Wait a minute - I have tons of friends who work and their kids are in school full time. And you know what - they are totally superbly adjusted, brilliant, darling little people with wonderful mommies and daddies whom they love and cherish dearly. What was I worrying about???? Oh, I was worrying about myself, that's what!

So I am adding a "Ben Becomes An Eagle" section to the blog and in it, I will try to write all about us learning how to get on a schedule and the mayhem that surely follows.

But with the new schedule comes new challenges and new advantages. I can do this. I can take these three days and get myself on a better schedule and both Ben and I will flourish! And the fact that he will be wearing a uniform totally cuts down on my laundry!

What a glorious Mother's Day!

Oh joy! I am the happiest woman alive! My Mother's Day is complete with an entire day of "ME TIME!" I am not cleaning, I am not doing laundry and I am not cooking! Instead my darling husband has removed our precious mop-top tot from our home and given me an entire morning and most of the afternoon to sit...in silence and I am eternally grateful.

So how do I spend my free time? Normally, it is not so "free". But today it is all about what I want to do. So after walking around the house for about an hour trying to decide what to do a light bulb went off! I will listen to MY MUSIC and clean the house!

Sounds strange. But to have no TV on and no phone and no child and no husband - to have nothing but joyful thoughts and MY MUSIC is the most delightful gift I have ever recieved. THANK YOU, KEVIN!

I hope you all had equally as glorious a day as I have had and Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Oh and what am I listening to????



Oh I am not ashamed!

And the big news is...

Oh I am addicted to new hair!!!!! By reading your comments I know that you are not surprised...but here it is!

Not the best photo - red eye galore and strange "cropping" on my part...but you get the idea!

Special Announcement

Oh there's big news at the Bredemeyer House. But we are not prepared to release an official statement.

Here is a teaser....



Can you guess???

Car Accident

Well, it happened. I was in a car accident today (sans Ben). I failed to yield totally before merging into traffic and the 87 year old man who was waiting his turn ahead of me hadn't gone like I had imagined he had. So I cruised into the back of him at a "merging into traffic" rate of speed. YIKES. The Hummer picked up his sweet little gold car and chewed on it for a while and then spit it back out.

*Sidebar: - Brittney, you had "The Beast" that ate gold Saturn's...I have the "Chrysler Cruncher"

Anywho - The man was so kind and so understanding that it was an accident and that I wasn't jacking around. He said he was fine, although given the fact that however "Driveable" his car may have been, he has no trunk and I popped off the rear view mirror INSIDE the car. To say he will be sore is an understatement.

My ticket was for "Failure to Control Speed" and the sweet little officer patted me on the back and was like, "Now, that's not a speeding ticket..." I think I would prefer a speeding ticket. We'll see when I find out what my fine is.

Special prayer request for the sweet little man I hit. I am not going to put his name in Blog World, so let's just call him Mr. D.R.

Update on Ron

Ron's surgery has been scheduled and he and Brenda will be leaving next week for MDA. I have no clue what the sugery entails, where all the tumor is connected and what his recovery will look like. I don't know if it is because I am some how in the dark or if some of this they will know more once the doctor's begin.

So if I may ask this one "small" favor of you...Would you please pray for the following:

Ron's health - A successful sugery with no complications
Brenda's peace - I can only imagine the anxiety of waiting for the sugery to be complete
A steady recovery - I ask for "steady" because sometimes even great things take time. So I pray for "steadiness" so that each day is better than the day before - even if it is slight.
Ron's patience - Being a man who is known has a "fixer" I am sure that is difficult to just lay and wait.
And for Kevin and Kim - no matter how old we get, there is something unnatural and scary about one of your parents being ill.

Thank you all and I will post more when I know more!

Random Thought Of The Week

I was raised by hippies. Not the uber-freakish, drug addled, rebelling youth of the Summer of Love, but the moderately experimental, trendy, free thinking youth of the very early 70s. My childhood memories are filled with Sunday morning "jam sessions" on the "hi-fi". And the music that came out of it would in some ways change my life. Not so much in the "Almost Famous" way, but enough that I would notice. To say my parents' taste in music was eclectic would be like calling Sybil "passionate". We would listen to everything from the Beatles to Janis to Air Supply to Lionel Ritchie (with and without his Commodores). Earth, Wind & Fire would make way for Christopher Cross who would then yield to Queen Babs herself, who around noon would switch somedays to Kris Kristoferson or even Bonnie Tyler. And the best? Well, my internet friends, that was Cat Stevens. My love for all things Cat is enough to make my husband and the majority of my friends moderately insane. But like the love between Elvis and his PB & Honey Sandwich, it is impossible to explain but its real and its deep.

So today I share with you my little gem that I found on YouTube today. This was Ben's favorite lullaby when I would rock him in the middle of the night when he was a baby. The boy knows good things when he hears them!

Enjoy!

The Other Bredemeyer "Boy"

I named my blog "Allison and the Boys" to discuss all things about the goings on with me and my men. What I have failed to mention thus far is our other "boy" in the house - Bagger. (I use "boy" in quotes because in cow terms he would be a steer and not a bull...but still a boy dog!)

Bagger's real name is Bred's Bird Bagging Boy. He is a full blooded Chocolate Lab with a fairly impressive hunting pedigree, thus the hopeful name. Over the years his registered name has turned more into a punch line like calling the one-eyed, three legged, deaf dog LUCKY! The sad irony is that the only thing Bagger will retrieve is a Happy Meal from off the kitchen counter.

Now before I begin this story I need to let you know a little bit about Bagger. Kevin bought him from a breeder near Waco and we got a steal on him because of two "major" flaws. I say "major" because they might be major to a breeder, show dog owner, or champion field dog owner but they are ridiculously minor to a pet owner.) We got Bagger for a discount because of a dime sized white spot on his chest and the fact that he was a giant. Much like the old cartoon about Lambert, the Sheepish Lion who stuck out from the other lambs like a towering bohemouth, Bagger towered over his siblings. I mean freakishly large! At 3 months he weighed over 30 lbs and didn't have an ounce of fat on him. At 6 months he weighed over 70 lbs. You get my point. He's more horse than dog. Our fabulous vet, Dr. A.B. (we'll call him this so if you google him looking for a vet my post won't show up) told us that Bagger's working weight would easily be 100 - 105 lbs. BIG FREAKING LAB!

So here we are today. Bagger is a BIG FREAKING LAB indeed. But you see, somewhere between the 2 dogs we had put down, the dozens of other dogs we "fostered" and having a baby, Bagger's diet has turned into weenies and canned food and a nightly ritual of no less than 2 rawhides...which WE have to hold for him while he chews! Needless to say, we have some minor health issues. The first to go was Bagger's thyroid. It doesn't work and I catch myself defending him like a mother of the fat kid..."He has GLANDULAR issues!" And now, most recently we have discovered that Bagger has the most embarrassing fat dog disease ever.....

TYPE 2 DIABETES! That's right folks...Bagger has the horrible disease that every trainer, nutritionist and doctor in the world warns you about. ("don't eat that...you'll end up with type 2 diabetes!") And what's the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes?!?!?! Diet and exercise!!!!!! And what really just chaps my hide is that Kowboy Gilliland Stephens never had Type 2 Diabetes! (May he rest in peace! - sorry Jenna!)

So Bagger's on a diet. Well, he'll start one on Monday because that's when you start a diet and as a life long, career dieter I sat him down and explained to him what he was about to go through...the embarassing weigh ins, the hunger pangs, the feeling of loss and hopelessness - oh, wait...did I say that outloud - tee hee.

We'll add a "Bagger Weighs In" column to keep you all posted on his progress. As much as I complain about the furry monster, I do love him.

Oh and the starting weight is....146. He weighed 118 in August of 2006 - YIKES!

This picture was taken almost a year ago so he's bigger than this, but I figure this picture showed that he was big enough!