It’s Random Photo Thursday!

Okay I know, I'm supposed to do this on Tuesday. I'm behind. What's new? Tuesday was not our best day here. Amanda had a friend over and lately when she has friends over she seems to think she can get away with things she normally wouldn't. We've had several talks about this but they haven't helped. I know this is partly my fault because, well… when her friends are around, I've let her get away with things she normally wouldn't .

I didn't want to be the mean mom so I've let things slide when I shouldn't have. Does that mean it's all my fault? Okay well anyway, we're both working on this. I'm trying to turn things around. Tuesday showed me I need to work harder at this.

Amanda had already been pushing the limits on Tuesday, when she finally pushed them too far. She and her friend went outside to play on the swings and when I went outside to check on them, Amanda said, "What do you want? Go back inside Old Lady."

(I'll give you a second to get over your pure shock and disbelief.)

I said, "Excuse me?" To which my delightful six year old replied, "Go back inside Old Witch."

(I know. You probably need another second to digest this. I did too.)

Yes, my completely adorable child called me an Old Witch.

Now in her defense, upon further consideration, I'm 98% certain that when she said it, this is the Old Witch she had in mind:

But since she didn't specifically refer to me as, "the kindest and most beautiful witch in all the land," I have to assume there was a possibility she was talking about one who resembles the one below, so I had to respond appropriately.
She'd never called me a name before, certainly not a mean one… and for the record, we were in the middle of a play date, so I was on my best mommy behavior (which is what got me into trouble in the first place) and certainly not acting like an old witch. Not saying it never happens but it wasn't happening then.

Anyway, it took me a while before I came to my senses and made Amanda's happy little world come to a screeching halt. I know, I know… Next time I'll act faster. This time I waited until her friend went home and then we had a very long chat. She said that she had no idea why she said what she did. She said she was trying to be funny. She also said she was sorry. She put on her brave face while I told her the consequences, which were in response to more than just being disrespectful and the name calling (lest you you think I was being too harsh in response to a first offense).

When Scott got home, Amanda ran to lock herself in the bathroom while I told him that she'd gotten into trouble. He asked why and I said, "Well for one thing, she called me an old lady."

His response: "So suddenly she's not allowed to speak the truth?"

Smart ass.

I bit my cheek to keep from laughing and whispered, "United front. We're presenting a united front here. We are a team and We Will Not Laugh."

Then I explained to him that there would be no more play dates for the week. No treats. No TV… Scott stopped me there and said, "No TV? That means no American Idol!?!"

Yep. That's right.

He said, "Man, you're a mean old witch."

Now I ask you, do I look like a mean old witch?

So in happier news, Amanda is winding up first grade, counting the days until summer. She is also currently sporting her very first wiggly tooth! She's a little freaked out by it, because one of her friends told her it's going to hurt.

Today she'll be getting up in front of the class to give a report about what she wants to be when she grows up. Currently she wants to be a teacher, and the child is seriously dedicated to playing school. She's constantly setting up classrooms in various spots around the house. She says decorating and organizing the classroom is one of the very best parts of being a teacher. She's always writing out homework assignments, making reading lists, pulling in willing or unwilling students.

I regularly get progress reports for Alyssa. Alyssa doesn't listen. Won't pay attention. Won't stay in her seat. Always forgets to raise her hand before speaking. That Alyssa is a little delinquent, I tell ya. But Miss Amanda perseveres.

Amanda has other aspirations as well, one of which is to be a masseuse. Now hypothetically, would it be wrong if I were to encourage her in that particular pursuit over something more altruistic and world-changing mainly because she… hypothetically… gives me the best foot massages on earth? Did I mention that she actually begs me to let her give me foot massages? Hypothetically, of course. I know the world may need more teachers but Mommy needs foot massages too.

Alyssa is in normal Alyssa mode. Always so much fun to hang out with. For the record, she wants to be a dinosaur when she grows up. One of her favorite phrases is, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Trust me it's always fun to find out what she is thinking and very rarely am I thinking the same thing. Moments ago she was thinking that princesses should only wear white dresses and very tall shoes. Earlier it had something to do with monkeys eating cookies and before that it was something about kitty cats with balloons.

This is the conversation we had yesterday a moment after she woke up from her nap…

Alyssa: "I had a nightmare!"

Me: "Really? What was it?"

Alyssa: "It was pictures behind my eyes and you could click on them. It was like a movie."

Me: "What were the pictures of?"

Alyssa: "You!"

Me: "Oh! Were they scary?"

Alyssa: "No."

Me: "So it was a dream then."

Alyssa: "No, it was just like a movie behind my eyes."

I bet Mommy looked like this:

In other news, the cat has fleas.

And umm, let's see… Scott is desperate for a vacation. We're trying to decide between Disneyland and Yosemite. For the record, I'm on the Disneyland team. Alyssa has never been but she's been to Yosemite a few times. Who wants to go see Mickey? WE DO!

As for me, I got to be a (non) celebrity (non) super-model last week. Shutterfly's creative director sent me an email saying they were looking for a customer (and photo book creator) to represent the reasons to create a photo book. They said they wanted to interview me and do a photoshoot with me holding one of my photo books and wondered if I would be interested.

Ahh gee, let me think about it, YES!!!

Cara drove me to the photo shoot in San Francisco. (Thanks Cara!) They did my hair and make-up and I had a wardrobe stylist who dressed me in different outfits for different seasons. Yeah, I know. How cool is that? It was really fun. Though when I saw myself on the monitor my first thought was, WHOA!!! When did I turn into such a MOM? Anyway, I'm going to be on their website, in the photo book section of their store, starting in July.

While I was having my make-up done, they did a quick photo shoot of my niece, Sophia, holding some of my photo books and today they sent me a release to sign. They said I should add Sophia's name if it's okay to use her photo on their site in the future. How fun is that?

They used big binder clips to make my clothes fit. You better believe I'll be using that little fashion tip in the future. So if you see me walking around with big binder clips sticking all over my back it's not because I'm a dork, it's just because I'm a big (non) celebrity (non) super-model.