A Very Lucky Girl

dragonfly...? trash can diary key Do you remember the adventures of Brother and Sister (E and C) from last summer? (If you need a refresher, you can look back on the months of June and July from 2012 in the right side bar).  They're back. And I'm back. And we're already sunburned. I also add two of their friends (Mc and Mk) to the mix on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after swim practice.  They never cease to keep me laughing (at least inwardly) and I'll highlight the best of the week in a post every Friday. Quotable Quips: "Are we there yet?"-C. "Has the car stopped moving?" You may think I'm sassy for a nanny, but I like to think I'm real.  "How far away are we?"-C. "Everytime the tires move we get a little bit closer!"  When C was eating her lunch on Thursday (turkey and cheese on crackers), she asked, "was this cheese already sliced?" Yes, that was what was in your fridge. "Oh." She set do...

This might be cheating because Beignet Gibson Arceneaux is my baby canine. Except I guess she qualifies as a full grown dog now that she is NINE years old. However, she still acts more like a 7 month old puppy. Up until my 6th grade year, the only pet that had graced the Arceneaux household was a fish that lived for three days. Oakes and I asked a few times for a dog, but the answer was always no. I'm still not sure what changed in that year for "dog" to become part of Sharbear and Paul's vocabulary, but one Saturday afternoon we all piled into the car for a trip to PetSmart to gawk at the Second Chance Adoption dogs. After talking Paul out of a pit bull, we fell in love with Beignet, then named Arwin. She had a buddy named Frodo. Rescued from a puppy mill sometime in December, she entered our family around April-ish. Her foster owner dropped her off with a caution that it could take some time to change her name. False. She answered to Beignet almost immediately--...

August 1st signaled the start of school for my young charges so Tuesday was my last day of work for the summer. Monday and Tuesday were as action packed as possible, sprinkled with neighborhood mama drama. Brother and Sister are participating in a miniature triathlon on Saturday morning so their mom encouraged me to include some training in our outdoor activities. I invited the three right-side neighbors to train and their mom and I held a trial triathlon on Tuesday morning, complete with a stopwatch. It was a nice way to blow off steam, especially considering that Monday was overwrought with emotion.  The right-side neighbors invited me and my kids to go bowling with them on Monday afternoon (since when did bowling become so expensive?! For two kids to bowl two games I spent 24 bucks!). Alas, the left-side neighbor girl was over at my house on Monday when we received the invitation, and I, being completely oblivious to any neighborhood tiffs, mistakenly told her she could tag al...

The kids came back from vacation at the beach this week. I walked in on Monday morning, expecting to be bombarded with hugs and exclamations of, "we missed you!" Instead, my kids sat like two slugs in the giant bean bag until I said, "uhhh, THIS is the welcome I get?" After that they clung like a psycho ex-girlfriend.  I've made them do Rosetta stone, violin scales, and soccer drills all week. I'm always looking for time fillers. While they kicked soccer balls around I decided to use my time wisely and get a second workout in. I always hit up the treadmill before I head to their house every morning, but some extra crunches, jumping jacks, and squats never hurt anybody. The squats were a big hit. My thighs wouldn't agree, but the kids laughed and laughed at the workout I did in their driveway as they meandered around with a checkered ball.  If you act really excited about something minuscule, the whole attitude in the house is amped up. So I made a ...

I'm more than halfway through the summer of learning that I probably don't want kids. I love being able to give these children back to their parents at the end of the day. It's my favorite part. Especially since this week was sass city in this household (I'm reluctant to say that I could be the cause of this...I'm pretty free with my sarcastic conversations). Regardless, it pissed me off.  We started off the week with a surprise visit from pest control. I was unsure if he was there for the vermin or the children (they seem to synonymous this week), but either way I had not been informed of his impending arrival. So when a strange looking man showed up on the front porch, I was wary. I felt bad for being so suspicious, but his opening words were, "So how's everything looking inside?" No mention of his occupation. Um, things are great sir, thanks...move along. He saw the terror-stricken look on my face and recognized his blunder. "Oh! I'm...

So basically, my bestfriend is a model I miss you eating poptarts every morning Moriah is twenty, y'all! Can't believe it. I remember celebrating our Sweet 16 together. And somehow she has made it 4 more years and I am SO glad. I am honored to be her friend, and I hope to be so blessed to get to see her this summer (fingers crossed that August works out for me to visit). She's been there for me, a non judgemental figure, through all of my failures. I can tell her anything and she will listen and give me advice, leaving the better-than-you attitude out of it. I can only hope to be half as good of a person as Moriah Jo is. God has beamed on her for twenty years and I know He will continue to do so for many more. She deserves it. Being her friend is so easy, it just comes naturally. I love you so much MJC! Wish I could see you for your birthday, but I'll just creepily stare at a picture of you to make up for it. One more year til you can legally drink those mimosas...

Week three is complete. Only 2 more weeks left until my entire week off. I'm a little bit excited about 7 whole days dedicated to just being 20. Because I've figured out that the trick to making nannying enjoyable for everyone is to act their age--to a point. If I put myself into a 9 year old mindset (the mean of their ages), then I don't mind playing play dough nearly as much.  On Monday I took the kids to Frontier City. This was my first time there. I suggest a motion to rename it Jank City. Every single ride creaked. The very first one was a Splash Mountain wannabe, where you rode in a rickety log flume around a riveting creek until plunging over a drop. I clutched the handle bars  until my knuckles turned white and gritted my teeth as the less-than-stable log made its agonizing ascent to the top of the drop. I used to love roller coasters! And I think I still do...I just have an aversion to the ones that aren't reassuringly, positively safe. I couldn't stop t...

These kids are so out of my league. I had enough material for an entire post just after Monday of this week. But I saved everything up for a mega post. And I plan to make it a weekly thing. This was the week of the soccer mom. I literally took Brother to soccer practice every morning and watched him from the bleachers with Sister. It is unreal how much more cautious you become with other children in the car. I asked my mom if she still feels like that when me and Oakes are in the car. She said no. I guess Oakes and I's value decreased as we got older... I kept both hands at ten and two. The radio at an acceptable decibel. And constantly checked all the mirrors. Monday. The kids greeted me with a "we missed you over the weekend!" when I arrived on Monday morning. It was adorable. But their constant chatter was not. I brought Advil for the rest of the week. We had our first casualty. It was my own. It's all fun and games until an 8 year old crash lands on your foo...

Can hardly contain the excitement Four score and 18 years ago (minus the four score), Shari brought forth a ginger, wrapped him in my hand-me-down blanket, and laid him in my old crib. Little baby brother Oakes had arrived and was stealing my spotlight. 18 years later and he's still cooler than me.  typical From the moment he was born he rained on my parade. Literally. I had the misfortune to stand at the end of the changing table during diaper switchout one time. I never made that mistake again. I've heard my exact words were, "he squirts!" Thank you little baby Taylor for being awkward from day one.  There is also several minutes of video footage of me crowding his baby seat, enthralled at his baby noises. "He squeaks!" I had that subject-verb sentence structure down.  I die. Too cute. the most precious fans they've ever had And I continue to be enthralled as I've watched him grow. From squeaky baby, toothless six-year ...