Battle of the Bands.

Tonight, rum and Ryan and a little Sublime are my friends. Except I must be a boring friend because I was ditched for laundry... ya- Ryan chose to fold some laundry versus watching "Signs" with me. His loss ;)

Anywho, back to the point of this post... I've been having a teeny little "battle of the bands" in the ol jeep. Here's my sitch:

I have two kids in the car- we should be listening to Disney soundtracks and counting songs, right??? Well, we've tried this. We DO listen to Disney songs and counting songs... and songs about sharing... and songs about not pooping your pants... and songs about not biting... and- you get the idea. One can only take so much.

Music has always been a huge part of mine and Ryan's lives. I have played the piano since first grade or so... and Ryan plays the piano, guitar and sometimes you can catch him singing :)

PRE-kids, my ipod was plugged in to my car 24/7... I've never really listened to BAD music- I mean I think I went through a rap stage in high school- (remember Nelly?:) but I tend to lean more towards the clean, folksy, RASTA-ish, type music. There might be AN occasional bad word... or suggestion... but really, its pretty good.

However, when my two year old starts belting out "WITH A TIN CUP FOR A CHALICE FILL IT UP WITH RED WINE!" or "WON'T SOMEBODY GET ME OFFA THIS REEF?" in the middle of Target, I can't help but think that something is not right. This is usually when (in target) I make my way over to the CD department and pick out one of those incredibly obnoxious children's CDs, vowing that from now on, Maeve and Henry's ears will only be privy to little lambs and itsy bitsy spiders.

Fast forward... we're in the car and on the 3rd round of "The Wheels on The Bus" and I'm ready to rip my entire stereo system out and crunching the CD up in a zillion pieces.

What would be more traumatic for my kids? Hearing that Jimmy Buffett likes to drink red wine from a tin cup chalice, while chewing on a honeysuckle vine or watching momma pull over the car, rip out the stereo and begin to shred and shatter the CD? I'm fairly sure the second option would leave more scarring.

Still though, I can't help but feel a little guilty.... moms, be truly honest with me... what do YOU listen to in the car with your kids?

- I have to say I am a teensy weensy bit nervous about this post... its my first "controversial" post since going public... be nice. no judgement :)-

New Years...

is quickly coming up. Does New Years intimidate anyone else or is it just me? It feels like you need to turn yourself into a better you- scary! I mean, I love New Years- simply because of the champagne and that "new" feeling- but the next day I have this nagging voice in my head saying "get to the gym," "liquid diet," "do the laundry more often," etc. you get the picture right? I have already made out my list of resolutions. I stick to them for awhile- I really do- partly because I am as stubborn as a horse (is that the saying??? :) and partly because they truly are important resolutions.

I won't share the bulk of my resolutions because some of them are embarrassing and who likes to share their flaws? But I can give you a quick summery of them- many include house stuff- like cooking healthier stuff, cleaning the bathrooms more often, etc. Then there are some stupid ones like not parking in the "For expectant mothers" parking spots- although I think that's a crock- excuse me, hands up moms who aren't expecting and who don't have kids under one- does it get ANY easier to load and unload your kids, stroller, diaper bag, etc??? NOPE. (and my hand is raised- so is Maeves) So I really think malls, grocery stores, etc. should have parking spots for anyone who has a kid under the age of 5. I think after all your kiddos are over the age of 5 and you don't need to lug in strollers and diaper bags and blankets, THEN you can park far away and walk your family in. Okay- sorry for the tangent- I feel very strongly about those dang parking spots. Of course I have the typical weight loss resolutions... who doesn't? I guess Nicole Richie... skinny stinker (this is a family blog- I won't use the word I wanted to :) And then I have the "personal" ones that have to do with my anxiety, OCD and "family planning." And thats as far as I'll go with that! :)

Our New Years plans are pretty simple- Ryan gets out of work early tomorrow and we'll go out for dinner with my family- then MY family will set off to see a movie (a new years tradition) and me, Ryan and our mover & shaker will head home. Maybe if we're lucky Ryan and I can RENT a movie and actually stay up for the whole thing :) But I will admit- I am super jealous... when is the last time I saw a movie in a theater you ask? When I was 8 months preggo with our missy- coincidentally it was "Knocked Up." Maybe I should put that on my list of resolutions- to see a movie in a theatre this year :) Back to New Years plans- New Years Day, hubby gets off- YES. I've heard rumors of some football game being shown at my uncles "home theatre." Ryan has hinted he is attending but I'm going to try hard to get him to spend at least SOME of the day with us. New Years night, my family always has a ham dinner- ham is just about the only meat I really like- I mean, I will eat chicken, but I don't enjoy it so much.

Ryan has to work on Friday :( But Saturday, we're heading up to Detroit for our big "New Years" celebration at the Westin. OH have times changed!!!! Two (or was it 3???) years ago I was celebrating New Years in Ann Arbor with friends- don't ask me details, I can barely remember where we went... But this year, since we're not going out for New Years, we're going to ring in the new year a few days later, but at the AWESOME Westin- we're gonna go swimming, eat some good food at the Prickly Pear (or MAYBE "Cheeseburger in Paradise") and celebrate with Maury's famous cupcakes. I'm excited :) Even though we're not getting all fancied up to go out with friends, I am looking forward to THIS New Years more than others.

WELL, as I type this, my mom is walking in my door to watch Maeve for an hour or so- I'm getting my out of control- neanderthal looking eyebrows waxed, and then going grocery shopping. I am trying out a "Deceptively Delicious" meal tonight. Ryan's not so thrilled, but the truth is, this WHOLE family, including M&M Maeve needs to jump on the healthy boat. I will post later tonight on how the meal turned out... :)

Peace out y'all! :)