Uncle Dan was over two days ago, and joking around with Daniel said, “Are you going to be on stage crew for the dance show this year, Daniel?”

Well, to Daniel, that was no joke.  Stage Crew?  Hello!?  What more could Daniel ask for?

“Mom, can I please be on stage crew?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Well, (quick, come up with a good reason, holly!) you have to be able to read when you’re on stage crew because you have to know what song is coming up next.”

“Well, mom!!!! When are you going to teach me to read?”

Thanks Dan.

Two hours past his bedtime - coming downstairs, “I just can’t sleep.  You have to teach my how to read!!!”

So yesterday we started our reading lessons.  And….I’m getting a little nervous.  At this rate, I will have to figure out a way to let Daniel do some sort of stage crewing. 

“Today, we’re going to work on these 15 words.”

“15!  That’s it!  Mom, we have to work on at least a hundred and one words today.”

Much to Daniel’s disappointment, we’ve only worked on about 30 words these past two days and he knows almost all of them . 

It will be fun when he’s able to read.  I’m very excited for that time. 

Then I won’t have to deal with conversations with him like the one coming home from blockbuster last Friday:

“What movie did you get, mom?”

“Juno.”

“Why’s it called Juno?”

“I don’t know.  Juno? (doyouknow?)”

“Huh?”

“Juno why it’s called Juno?”

“what?”

“Do you get what I’m doing?”

“No.”

“Nevermind.”

“Mom, when we get home, can we go on a W-O-K?”

“Daniel, that was so close.  You almost spelled ‘walk.’  Instead, you spelled…wok.”

“I know mom.  I spelled ‘walk.’

“No, you spelled ‘wok.’  Hear the difference.  Walk.  Wok.”

Snobby glare from the back seat

“You almost got it, Daniel.  Don’t be upset.”

“Mom!  I spelled ‘walk!’

“It’s confusing…but someday you’ll get it.”

“Mom, this is annoying me.

“Hey, that’s rude.  I’m trying to teach you.”

“No, you’re trying to annoy me.”

When did he turn into a teenager? 

Want to know what I spend half of my time doing while I’m driving?

Well, I’ll tell you anyway.

So, my family’s names go as follows:

Holly Elizabeth Vojt (HEV)

Daniel Eppie Vojt (DEV)

Daniel Eppie Vojt, Jr (DEV)

Elizabeth Diane Vojt (EDV)

(If ep and I have a third child, we’re going to actually have to spend more than three minutes discussing what to name our kid!)

Now, I’ve always been weird about license plates - Not the numbers, but the letters.  Like, I try to make words and sentences out of the three letters on the plate.

For example, when I was in high school, my three letters were XSY.  I told everyone it stood for sexy.

My plate now is GMC.  It stands for ‘Great Mom’s Car.’

So, where’s this going?

Around the time Daniel was born, everyone in PA had to get a new license plate.  I began to notice after a month or so, that every new plate had our family’s initials!  It was crazy! 

I swear to you, every plate that came out three to four years ago either has a D or an E or a V or an H.  Or two of the those letters.  Or all three!!!!  It must have been the state’s way of keeping track, or they must love our family - either one.  (By the way, I’ve noticed that all trucks and business vehicles begin with a Y, and all the newer cars now start with a G -  in case you were wondering and I know you were.)

So, I’ve been having a ball these last few years -  and driving eppie crazy all at the same time (killing two birds with the same stone). 

“Hey Ep!  Look at that plate.  It’s ELH.  It stands for ‘Eppie loves Holly.’  Isn’t that cute?”

It’s a very strange quirk that I have.  And I just thought I’d share.

Daniel got a hold of my camera this morning and took this picture of me and Elizabeth reading. It reminded me of a set of favorite pictures that I have of me reading with Daniel when he was the same age as Elizabeth here.

I Love these two pictures!  I realize they’re nothing special, but to me, these pictures make me so happy.  Reading to my children is the highlight of my day!

(If you haven’t seen “The Producers,” disregard the title)

Probably my all-time favorite thing about life in general: The Four Seasons.

Love, love, love the seasons! 

Love, love, love even more the changes in seasons.

Five reasons why this weekend was great:

1.Daniel and Eppie flew their first kite together.

2. Daniel, Lizzie and I laid down in “the grassy knoll” for a whole hour watching butterflys.

3. Daniel ‘planted one’ on some random girl while at Cocoa Castle.

4. Annie’s ice cream opened!

5. Eppie and I sat on our rocking chairs for the first time since fall…and watched the kids play in the rain.

Ah, the simple things in life… 

Here are pictures from Anja’s half birthday party on Sunday.

And also two pictures of Daniel’s “The Lucy Hut” restaurant that he’s obsessed about lately.

For all of two people who read this blog, I’m just letting you know that I just deleted the post titled “thanks for leaving me” because eppie just informed me that it’s very “bratty.” 

That was kind of the point…but I just don’t want people to think that I actually was soooo sad that my parents left and that my life will stand still until they get back…and I really do have great friends.

I love my parents and I love hanging out with them - Is that a crime?

I was outside playing with my kids this morning, when some people walked out of my neighbor’s house, who just put her house up for sale a week ago. 

Since they were standing only a mere three feet from my “For Sale by Owner” sign, I was able to hear their conversation.

“We’d love to make an offer on this place.”

“Great” replied the real estate agent.

I discreetly ran into the house and e-mailed eppie, “Someone just made an offer on Amy’s place!  What is wrong with us?”

Well, I do know what’s wrong with us.  We’d rather have an extra $9,000 in the bank than in some random real estate agent’s wallet.

Tonight I thought out-loud, “I wonder what we should do about this house.”

Daniel thought it would be a good idea to write on our Flyers:

Free Sherbert if you buy this house!!!

That comment reminded me of the time when we drove past a car dealership and Daniel exclaimed, “Hey look!  You get a free car if you buy a balloon!”

Alright house, let’s sell!  Not because I want to move, but I’m tired of trying to keep the house looking like no kids live here.  Hard to do without a basement!

Anyone who knows of someone who wants a rockledge, have them look at our website: www.hersheytownhouse.com

If they don’t like it, hey, there’s 16 more for sale!

I love to read books to Daniel.  I could do it all day.

I was really sad that Elizabeth wouldn’t last for more than three seconds on my lap when I tried to read to her.

But that’s all changed…drastically.  These last few weeks, all Elizabeth seems to want to do is read.  And it really makes me so happy reading to her! 

What I love the most is that Elizabeth now has to fall asleep with, not a doll or a blanket, but a book!  Any book!  And the more the better. 

Yeah!  I love my little book worm.

Today I went shopping at Carters for spring and summer clothes for my kids. 

While checking out the 3.99 rack, I was excited to see in the size ‘24 months’ section a cute top and pants combo…and there were several of them.  “Huh,” I thought.  “I wonder why people don’t want to buy these.”

I picked one of them up and saw that the shirt said, “Baby’s First Easter.“

Anyone who listens to Country knows Tim McGraw’s song “Live like you were Dying.”

I’ve been humming that song a lot these past 48 hours or so…Ever since my dad informed me that there is a blood test you can take that detects if you will get breast cancer someday. 

Now, as I’ve been told many times growing up, someone in my family is going to get it.  The question is:  Do I want to know NOW if it’s going to be me?  Do I really want to know?

 At first I thought, “Heck yeah.  Why in the world would you not want to know?” 

But now…not so sure. 

At some point, we’re all going to die.  At some point, we’re all going to get something. 

Like, I could take this breast cancer detecting test.  It could come back positive and then I have surgery…and then I end up with skin cancer two years later and die.  You know what I’m saying. 

Going back to the Tim McGraw song…Honestly, do people really want to go “skydiving, rocky mountain climbing, go two-point-seven seconds on a bull named Foo-Manchu” when they’re about to die?  Not my cup of tea - That’s all I’m saying.

I read in a book a few months ago that we should all think like we only have three months left to live.   I tried it, and it does wonders to your life:

Instead of being like, “Daniel, why are up before the sun is even up?” as he stands by my bed in the morning, I’m like “Daniel.  I love you!  Thank you for getting up so early so I can spend a few more extra minutes with you today!” (slightly exaggerated)

Or

 Instead of being like, (sarcasm) “Yeah!  I can’t wait to put on this dress that I’ve been wearing since high school,” it’s more like “Who cares.  I’m going to be dead in three months anyway.”

Trust me.  It works.  Especially…ESPECIALLY with parenting.  If I could give any advice to future mothers it would be that:  To live like you’re not going to be around forever.  The spills, stains, tantrums, missing your favorite tv show because your kids won’t go to sleep, the constant questions, reading the same books over and over again….all of that is so easy to deal with when you put things into perspective.

Now what would I DO if I really knew I was dying: 

I would take my ‘House for Sale’ sign down and live out my final days with my favorite people in the world AND I would let myself eat dessert for every meal and not feel guilty about it. 

(Hmm….maybe I should trick myself into believing I’m dying)